Here's the link
In my rather poorly informed opinion, these developments are something exciting to look forward to. While some may make a substantial claim that the DCEP may be misused (but in reality, what isn't), it will be fun to observe how the world responds :)
anyhow did u exercise today, lib?
DCEP
Why is it a cryptocurrency? This is very silly. It won't hurt the project in any substantial way, but it won't help in any way either.
Full economic transparency is neat. I can certainly think of policies I'd like to implement that would be easier with such a thing.
The reddit thread saying this prevents money laundering makes me laugh. But you'll have to launder your money way more often, which means petty crimes either don't happen (not worth it now that you have to launder) or are way easier to catch (didn't launder, just figure out who paid).
Potential for abuse is a little concerning. It's not about whether you trust the CCP as a whole, it's about whether you trust every single person with access to the data.
The US currency system is already effectively digital with a similar two tier distribution system to the DCEP one, but in the US the second tier is for-profit and charges transaction fees. It'll be interesting to see just how much the lack of transaction fees helps the Chinese economy.
Whether it's a challenge to the USD or whatever depends on economic policies, not the fact that they went all-digital.
Xiong'An New Zone
I'm having a hard time finding much information on this
The stuff cited in the reddit thread, if accurate, is hella cool
If you normalise cryptocurrency in your own country then all the tools necessary to serve a cryptocurrency must be created for it. Every single issue with cryptocurrencies for the average person will be solved from top to bottom by Chinese tech innovation.
If you think crypto currencies are going to stick around and continue to grow into the future then it seems like a smart play. It will put them ahead of capitalist countries because they all rely on startup companies. Chinese technology will be able to be ported abroad quickly and easily.
And perhaps their centralised blockchain technology itself might be something other countries want? What if you wanted to install a digital currency into African nations? They might highly value it on this technology. If they build their own based on it then they may be able to use it in deals with other governments that also want it.
Are there safety benefits to a cryptocurrency? What if your centralised non-blockchain system gets attacked and blown up? What failsafes do you have in place? Blockchain at least has the wonderful ability to operate by itself if something occurs to separate it from the intended centralisation the CPC will be using right? If your intention is to eliminate cash entirely and move to digital you also need to question how that will be attacked in a war. I think blockchain offers some element of autonomy that can be given in the event of a decoupling... They can then solve aby discrepancies manually later when they bring it all back together due to centralisation. Obviously I'm just guessing wildly on this last one I really don't know if you couldn't do the same thing with a standard digital currency that isn't built on blockchain.