The
entire People's Republic of China has undergone a blockchain exhibition
recently, beyond the imaginable. However, this recent admission of Chinese
state media has transcended the strange gray area between bitcoin and
blockchain. Finally, despite years of complaints and declarations of illegality
of this nascent technology, China has shown some support for BTC.
Bitcoin,
not just blockchain
The news
came through Matthew Graham, CEO of Sino Global Capital. Graham shared an
article from the Xinhua News Agency, in the hands of the state, considered the
most influential and outreach media organization in the world.
The
article, entitled "Bitcoin: the first successful blockchain application",
addresses the peculiarities of bitcoin and attempts to differentiate between
the large media deployment around BTC and what Xinhua calls "the future
development of the currency".
This
article includes an explanation of how bitcoin works, including the advantages
and challenges of public and private keys, mining, a brief explanation of the
halving protocol, and a look at the reputation of anonymity that bitcoin has
earned. The latter is used to relate it to the illicit use of BTC. It is a
state medium after all.
Regardless
of this, this article represents an exposure to a vast number of Chinese
citizens. While Xinhua's reader statistics are not disclosed, this medium is
one of the propaganda distributors of the Chinese Communist Party, which claims
to have 107 news offices worldwide and 31 agencies distributed in China.
A proper
compliment or propaganda? The Chinese digital currency would arrive in 2020
This
follows several weeks full of enthusiasm for the blockchain in China, as the
country begins to deploy an adoption of that technology. It all started in
October when the president, Xi Jinping, called to "seize the
opportunity" of the blockchain. From that moment, several initiatives,
from subsidies to blockchain projects, to the use of this technology in smart
cities, began to emerge throughout China. Even more amazing was the removal of
bitcoin mining from the list of industries to be eliminated by China, which
brought new hope for the huge bitcoin mining sector in that country.
Of
course, while this seems positive as a whole, it is quite possible that this
media deployment around blockchain and bitcoin is only about the preparations
for the launch of a cryptocurrency in China.
In fact,
according to Jack Leem of HCM Capital, China could launch the central bank
digital currency (CBDC) in 2020. In a CNBC interview, Lee explained that the
reason behind countries' endorsement of blockchain-based technology , implies
that this technology is perfect for Chinese predilection for money tracking.
Lee also
noted that the development in China of an electronic payment system with
digital currencies (DCEP), which will apparently act as a hybrid payment
network, which would connect the Chinese central bank with commercial banks and
represent the digitalization of the Chinese financial system.
However,
the mere fact that bitcoin is mentioned represents a unique occasion. Whether
or not China is using bitcoin and blockchain as part of the propaganda for its
CBDC, there are still positive facts that can come off this. Hundreds of
millions of Chinese citizens have been exposed to a relatively objective
article. This can only serve to drive more adoption.
SOURCE: Criptonoticias
