“We are still testing our own digital currency”

The People’s Bank of China (NBK) has officially announced that it’s “still in the process of research and testing” of the digital renminbi.

As the Central Bank of the country noted, reports that the NBK has already issued its own digital currency are “fraudulent”.

“The People’s Bank of China has not issued its own digital currency and has not authorized any platform for trading assets to conduct transactions,” the statement said.

The Central Bank also said that the schedule for the release of digital currency, which was published by some news agencies, is “inaccurate.” The NBK did not provide any details on the launch date of the digital renminbi, and emphasized that any such statements on behalf of the Central Bank may constitute “fraudulent or pyramidal schemes.”

Recently, the head of the Institute for Digital Currency Research at the NBK, Mu Changchun, said that the state-owned cryptocurrency would provide “controlled transaction anonymity”. Earlier, the official claimed that holders of the digital renminbi would not receive interest, and in August Changchun said that the NBK’s digital currency was ready to launch.

This month, the Institute of Digital Currencies of the People’s Bank of China and Huawei, one of the largest telecommunications companies, have entered into a partnership agreement to conduct research in financial technology.