PBoC is in No Rush to Launch the New Digital Currency

According to Global Times, the People’s Bank of China is in no way rushing the release of its digital currency, in fact, there isn’t even a timetable for the launch, therefore potential investors or the recipients of the currency have not a direct deadline to prepare for the start.

The new announcement about not having a specific launch date directly contradicts the announcements made in August, when the deputy director, Mu CHANGCHUN indicated the currency’s readiness for a successful deployment. The official plan for the currency was to be launched sometime before 2020 to combat Facebook’s Libra, for which it was created. But hearing that there’s no decided deadline could mean that the digital currency will take on a different role.

Regardless though, the arguments behind not having a plan are research, testing, and evaluation. Representatives of the PBoC have commented that the progress their digital currency has made so far is positive and will continue to be so before the launch. Several Chinese companies (mostly banks) have already been chosen for distribution. But when that distribution will happen is unknown.

Regardless though, many experts are predicting that the digital currency was unnecessary due to Libra not having a direct path into the Chinese market in the first place. For those who don’t know, the Chinese market has a serious firewall when it comes to foreign companies and media platforms, and Facebook is one of the companies being “blacklisted”.

The entry to the Chinese market would have been either too hard for Libra, or just not worth it through sheer cost alone.