Insiders Deny Claims of China’s Central Bank Launching a Cryptocurrency

As China’s central bank gets ready to launch its own cryptocurrency, Forbes has reported that seven institutions will be among the first to receive and interact with it. However, Chinese insiders familiar with the matter said the institutions involved and time frame outlined by Forbes is unreliable.

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According to Tencent News, two insiders close to China’s central bank have indicated that the institutions and time period mentioned by Forbes regarding the launch of China’s central bank cryptocurrency is unreliable and a mere “baseless assumption.”

Forbes said in its article that the technology behind the cryptocurrency has been ready since last year and that it could launch before the next Single’s Day on November 11. Included in the first batch of recipients are Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, tech conglomerate Tencent, and UnionPay, an association of Chinese banks, operating the country’s dominant bank card system.

According to Forbes, its source added that the central bank hopes the currency will eventually be made available internationally through relationships with correspondent banks in the West.

Charles Liu, the chairman of a private equity firm HAO International, sees many benefits in adopting the cryptocurrency as it will give banks increased confidence in the creditworthiness of borrowers, allow merchants to receive payments instantly and lower transaction fees.