DCEP Half a Decade in the Making?
China’s big push with emerging technologies has been big news this month, with new laws introduced for an industry standard on the usage of cryptography and data and President Jinping’s strong, yet positive stance towards blockchain technology prompting a 40% price pump in BTC.
Quietly and steadily, we have seen news emerge of nations exploring new alternatives outside of the influence of SWIFT, the IMF, and the U.S. dollar, triggering a race for economic supremacy.
According to an announcement by Huang Qifan, the Vice Chairman of the China Centre for International Economic Exchanges (CCIE), China’s central bank (PBoC) is developing a digital currency that has the capacity to replace SWIFT and pioneer in the realm of digital currencies with Digital Currency Electronic Payment (DCEP).
It was also revealed that DCEP has been under development for up to six years. Huang Qifan has voiced strong opinions against SWIFT, its bleak future, and Facebook’s controversial Libra coin, stating that it will likely fail!
… #PBOC has been studying #DCEP for five or six years, and is likely to be the first central bank in the world to launch a digital currency," said Huang Qifan, Vice President of #China Center for International Economic Exchanges, in #BundSummit #stablecoin #digitalcurrency pic.twitter.com/2M2lKKAWoA
— China Finance 40 Forum (CF40) (@ChinaFinance40) October 28, 2019
Details on this new currency are still vague, but it’s safe to assume that China is developing a new payment infrastructure that is open to the public to utilize but provides a greater degree of control over users interfacing with it.
Source (translated and alleged), https://twitter.com/mg0314a/status/1188823783685029888
Bank-backed digital currencies are not just being pursued in China; the Bank of England governor has also suggested opting towards a global currency to distribute financial authority from one currency or nation to a nomadic-driven control system.
Technology and the Currency Wars
As Qifan said in his announcement, DCEP and the PBoC working on a new digital currency isn’t anything new, as the BRICS nations have been collectively attempting to sidestep their reliance on using the U.S. dollar.
Russia, Venezuela, and Iran have also explored the concept of digital currencies to escape sanctions and roadblocks made by SWIFT and the IMF.
Earlier this year, the U.S. accused China of currency manipulation. If we look from a long-term perspective, the USD and yuan will likely be in a slow-motion currency showdown that could last years. This economic rivalry has already spilled over into the technology arena.
With enough influence, China could financially weaponize its digital currency to undermine ALL major Western fiat currencies. A gold-backed digital currency under the control of the Chinese central bank would further expose the weakness within paper currencies.
China is ramping up its gold purchases, Source: http://silvergoldchina.blogspot.com/2013/11/estimated-growth-of-chinas-gold.html
It’s not all one-sided, and there is progress being made in the U.S. The FedNow system is also being developed to provide a nationwide infrastructure for financial services, including real-time payments and settling. Its ETA is expected to be 2023/2024.
Blockchain payment company Ripple is also one of the members of the Fed’s Faster Payments Taskforce. Interestingly, Ripple has ties in China, involving a partnership with LianLian International to use its blockchain payment platform, RippleNet.
Could we be witnessing a digital currency race between the U.S.A. and China?
Weaponizing currencies using emerging technology might be the arms race of the 21st century! Technology firms caught in the middle could benefit from the financial tug of war or play their part in a larger plan to bring a global financial system as the Bank of England governor suggested…
This post is for educational purposes. All information used is referenced accordingly. This is not investment advice; please always do thorough research and only invest what you are willing to lose, especially in times of uncertainty.