The digital RMB is coming! Functional attributes are completely equivalent to paper money. Will it replace paper money?

On June 4th, official website, the Ministry of Commerce issued the Notice on Printing and Distributing the Overall Plan for Comprehensively Deepening the Innovation and Development of Service Trade (hereinafter referred to as the "Plan"), in which the pilot areas of digital RMB were announced.

The central bank began to study the digital RMB from 20 14, which further unveiled the mystery.

Although it has been put forward for many years, digital RMB is still a new word for most people. What exactly is digital RMB? Will it replace paper money?

Digital currency's English name is: DC/EP (Digital Currency Electronic Payment), that is, digital currency and electronic payment tools.

As the name implies. Mu Changchun, director of the digital currency Research Institute of the Central Bank, pointed out that the functions and attributes of digital currency are exactly the same as those of paper money, but its form is digital. He emphasized that the digital RMB of the central bank is neither an encrypted asset form like Bitcoin nor a stable currency form like Libra.

In 20 14, the central bank began to study the distribution framework and key technologies of digital currency. It was not until August 2065438+2009 that the Opinions of the Central Committee of the State Council on Supporting Shenzhen to Build Socialism with Chinese characteristics Experimental Demonstration Zone mentioned "supporting innovative applications such as Shenzhen digital currency Research and Mobile Payment" that digital currency officially entered the public's field of vision.

In August, 20 19, the central bank made it clear that "accelerating the research and development of digital currency (DC/EP) in China" was one of the key tasks in the second half of 20 19.

Since the beginning of this year, the rumors that the digital RMB is about to land are endless.

In April, the official website of the central bank issued a document pointing out that the DC/EP information disseminated online is a test content, which does not mean that the digital RMB is officially issued.

On May 26th, Yi Gang, governor of the central bank, responded to the "official launch time of digital RMB" and said that there is no timetable at present.

Frequent rumors, on the other hand, reflect the concern and expectation of all sectors of society for "digital RMB".

The "Proposal" proposes that digital RMB should be piloted in qualified pilot areas in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, Yangtze River Delta, Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the central and western regions, and the central bank should formulate policy safeguard measures, which will be promoted by relevant departments such as Shenzhen, Chengdu, Soviet Union and xiong'an new area during the future Winter Olympics, and then extended to other regions as appropriate.

The "Proposal" clarifies that the pilot areas for comprehensively deepening reform are Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Chongqing (Fuling District and other 2 1 municipal districts), Hainan, Dalian, Xiamen, Qingdao, Shenzhen, Shijiazhuang, Changchun, Harbin, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Hefei, Jinan, Wuhan, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Guiyang, Kunming, Xi 'an.

Fan Yifei, deputy governor of the central bank, said that digital currency, as the central bank, pays attention to replacing M0 (that is, banknotes and coins), retains the attributes and main features of cash, meets the needs of portability and anonymity, and is the best tool to replace cash.

Does the introduction of digital RMB mean that we have to bid farewell to paper money?

Zhao Qingming, an international financial expert, said in an interview with China News Service that digital RMB will not completely replace paper RMB at present, and not all residents have the ability and conditions to use digital currency. Paper RMB will still exist for a long time.

Bian Zu Yong, deputy director and researcher of the Industry Department of Chongyang Financial Research Institute of Renmin University of China, also believes that digital RMB will replace paper money in the long run, but this does not mean that paper money will disappear.

"In the future, paper money will still have a monetary function, but it will be used less frequently in the consumption process and more likely to become a collection." Bian Zuyong pointed out that China News Service is a through train. For example, gold and silver coins still have monetary functions, but they are basically no longer used as money, and more are used for collection. In the long run, digital currency will be the future trend.

Is the emergence of digital RMB just to replace paper money as currency? What's the difference between this and mobile payment?

It's not that simple.

Mu Changchun described the future usage scenario of digital currency as follows: As long as you and I have a DC/EP digital wallet on your mobile phone, you don't need to connect to the Internet for payment. Feel two mobile phones casually.

In addition, digital RMB does not need to be bound to any bank account when paying. More importantly, digital RMB has reliable encryption technology guarantee in terms of security.

Dong Ximiao, chief researcher of Wangxin Bank, stressed in an interview with the media that digital currency, the central bank, is the legal tender, while WeChat payment and Alipay are just a payment method, and their effectiveness can't be compared with digital RMB at all.

What is the significance of promoting digital currency?

Yi Gang, governor of the central bank, said: At present, the digital economy is an increasingly important driving force for global economic growth. The research and application of legal tender digital currency will help to efficiently meet the public demand for legal tender under the condition of digital economy, improve the convenience, security and anti-counterfeiting level of retail payment, and accelerate the development of digital economy in China.

Zhao Qingming pointed out that digital currency has enriched the existing cash forms of RMB, which is the latest product to adapt to the mobile Internet society and will further promote the development of digital economy.

"Informatization has changed human society, and the emergence of digital currency will make this change more profound." Yan said.

Bian Zu Yong believes that digital currency will not only reduce the carrying of paper money, improve the security and convenience, but also have a positive impact on financial policy, wealth management and other fields.

First of all, digital currency will have a great influence on financial policy. It is difficult to trace the flow of money in the era of paper money. In the digital currency era, the central bank or financial department will have a more accurate grasp of the currency flow, and the future monetary policy will be more precise and powerful.

Secondly, the implementation of digital currency is conducive to understanding residents' income and facilitating government departments to accurately manage and rationally adjust social wealth.

Thirdly, digital currency can also improve the financial management mode of enterprises and optimize the allocation of relevant personnel, which is conducive to reducing operating costs and improving work efficiency.

"From the perspective of future economic development, digital currency may give birth to a large number of new economic formats, and more new financial companies and institutions based on digital currency will appear." Yan said.