China’s new digital currency ‘isn’t bitcoin and is not for speculation’

The Chinese central bank official in charge of a new sovereign digital currency said it would not be open to speculation like other cryptocurrencies, shedding some light on a plan that is still largely shrouded in secrecy.

Mu Changchun , head of the People’s Bank of China’s digital currency research institute, on Saturday said it would be “a digital form of the yuan”, there would be no speculation on its value, and it would not need the backing of a basket of currencies, according to the official Shanghai Securities News.

“The currency is not for speculation. It is different to bitcoin or stable tokens, which can be used for speculation or require the support of a basket of currencies,” Mu said.

He did not mention Facebook’s cryptocurrency project Libra, which is scheduled to be launched next year and will be backed by a basket of underlying assets.

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