Renminbi Eventually to Become Cryptocurrency

In an interview with a mainstream news agency on April 17, the Blockchain Research Institute’s executive chairman Donald Tapscott stated that China’s official currency, the Renminbi (RMB) could eventually become a cryptocurrency.

Blockchain One of the Most Important Technologies

In his interview, Tapscott said that he had recently met with China’s Communist Party’s vice-chairman, who in turn stated that President Xi Jinping felt that Blockchain technology was one of the most important technologies for their country’s future.

In reference to the Chinese government’s stance on cryptocurrencies, where crypto exchanges have been banned, Tapscott stated that regulators in the country were also thinking about banning crypto mining operations too.

He added that these moves were not necessary because in another 20 years, Bitcoin would not be used in China. He said that the Chinese would be using the RMB. However, by that time, the country’s official currency would be converted to a cryptocurrency. He said that the central bank of the country would turn its currency into a digital currency.

When he was asked about whether decentralized exchanges would be allowed to operate in China, Tapscott stated that it was a possibility, however, the country’s government had taken a strong stance about limiting digital currencies.

He said that despite this, such exchanges would come to dominate traditional, centralized exchanges because of their ability to be transparent as well as identify negative behaviors. According to Tapscott, all assets, including traditional securities, would be moved to decentralized exchanges eventually.

China’s Stance Against Cryptos

At this point, according to reports, the NDRC (National Development and Reform Commission) has added cryptocurrency mining in its draft of a revised list of industrial activities that the Chinese agency is planning to shut down. These activities (including crypto mining) have been deemed to lack safety in production conditions, seriously waste the country’s resources and pollute the island. Other concerns are also listed because of which the agency wants to shut down such activities in the country.

Despite the government crackdown, China remains a major actor in the Bitcoin market, and most of the biggest BTC mining farms in the world are controlled by local Chinese operators. In fact, if the government were to shut down crypto mining operations, one of the companies to feel the impact the most will be Bitmain, which operates as many as 11 mining farms in the country.

World Leader in Blockchain

The country’s stance is just the opposite when it comes to the technology underlying cryptos. According to reports, China has the highest number of Blockchain related projects underway. The country has about 263 ongoing projects, which accounts for 25% of the world’s total.