As reported yesterday, first India announced it may issue its own bitcoin-like cryptocurrency as legal tender, and now, in a publication of the Chinese central bank, Huang Zhen, a researcher at Central University of Finance and Economics writes that the "the PBOC it should start its own sovereign digital currency as soon as possible" according to a commentary in the PBOC's own Financial News.

Here is the key excerpt, roughly translated:

 

 

In order for the Chinese government to prevent and control the risk of virtual currency, it decided to prohibit the issuance of ICO tokens, and stop the trading of cryptocurrencies and other virtual currencies on exchanges, to better protect the interests of China's financial consumers, and to prevent the spread of currency risk to China's financial system, safeguard China's financial security and the stability of important economic initiatives. The sovereign state is still the fundamental player in global politics, and carries with it the characteristics of the world financial system. Cryptocurrencies and other virtual currencies attempt to challenge the sovereign state's right to issue currency, requiring the nationalization of currency issuance. China has a clear understanding of digital forms of money, and is actively engaging in relevant work. The central bank has set up a research group and a digital money research institute to explore the digitization of sovereign money. After this round of virtual money markets supervision, we expect under the auspices of the Chinese central bank to launch our own sovereign digital currency as soon as possible to help maintain China's leadership in the development of global digital finance.