Recently, digital currency has attracted market attention. It is said that in the future, the central bank will try to use digital currency in relatively closed application scenarios such as the bill market. What is digital currency? What impact will digital currency have on our payment?
Digital currency is an alternative currency in the form of electronic currency. It is a legal tender and must be issued by the central bank. Digital gold coin and cryptocurrency belong to digital currency. It is not a network virtual currency, because it is not limited to virtual space, but is often used for real commodity and service transactions, such as Bitcoin, Litcoin, Bitshares, etc. At present, there are thousands of digital currencies issued around the world.
What are the differences between digital currency and bank transfer payment in daily use? According to the analysis of insiders, the digital currency launched by the Central Bank is a national sovereign currency, which is based on the digitalization of RMB. This is a piece of data generated by a complex algorithm, which contains blockchain and encryption technology, making it unique. Alipay, WeChat payment, etc. are not digital currencies, but payments based on electronic accounts. Their offline counterparts should be physical currencies. Compared with the current pattern of "payment transfer collection" completed with the help of third-party payment, what digital currency needs to achieve is "decentralization", that is, to cancel the transfer link, directly transfer the money from the payer's account to the receiver, and reduce the payment cost in currency circulation.
It is reported that digital currency has the main characteristics of network data packets. This kind of data packet consists of data code and identification code. The data code is what we need to transmit, and the identification code indicates where the data packet comes from, where to go and other attributes. This means that every penny has traceability. The "trace" and "traceability" of digital currency can improve the convenience and transparency of economic transactions, and will curb illegal and criminal acts such as money laundering and tax evasion. At the same time, with the application of blockchain technology, a national or even global unified account book will be established so that every amount of money can be traced back. Tax evasion and money laundering will be within the scope of supervision, and it is even possible to realize automatic tax deduction on the card reader.
It is reported that from the perspective of ordinary consumers, each person may have two "wallets" in the future. In reality, the money in the wallet is used for emergency payment, while the wallet in the mobile phone can be directly used for consumption and payment without the third party's "pass through" payment, realizing point-to-point payment and effectively reducing costs, Theoretically, it will also change the existing payment system with banks as the main channel.
Even with digital currency, paper currency will not end. The introduction of digital currency has a long process, and it is impossible for digital currency to replace paper currency immediately. Digital currency is only a change in form, and the scale of currency issuance is still controlled by the central bank, so the purchasing power of paper currency will not be affected in the short term.
(Editor in charge: Deng Hao)
