China’s PBoC Official Educates the Public on Cryptocurrencies and Facebook’s Project Libra

Mu Changchun, the Deputy Director of the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) has taken to De Dao, a popular Chinese education app to enlighten the masses on cryptocurrencies, including Facebook’s Libra altcoin and China’s Digital Currency Electronic Payment (DCEP) system, reports Forkast on November 18, 2019.

Mu Talks About Libra

Per sources close to the matter, Mu Changchun, the Deputy Director of China’s central bank, the PBoC, has rolled out a fresh crypto course named “Finance Frontier: Libra and Digital Currency Outlook.” on the nation’s De Dao app which reportedly has seven million active users.

Reportedly, Mu’s audio crypto course costs only 19.9 RMB ($3) and it’s divided into eight episodes that talk about all that needs to be known about Libra, including the risks associated with the virtual currency.

Explaining the reason behind the introduction of the audio course, Mu reiterated that the proposed Libra cryptocurrency by Facebook took the entire world by surprise and as such, it’s worth talking about.

In his words:

“Two months before I recorded this class, one thing happened that shocked the central banks around the world…As a researcher of digital currency and crypto assets, and also as a central bank officer, I believe it is important. Soon after the releasing of Libra, I decided to launch a course to talk about it.”

Libra: Not a Cryptocurrency

Notably, the top PBoC official has argued that it is technically wrong to call Libra a cryptocurrency, as the digital asset is not powered by blockchain technology alone, adding that Libra’s stability and privacy cannot be guaranteed.

On the other hand, Mu heaped praises on China’s blockchain-based digital currency, DCEP, explaining that the virtual currency’s ability to facilitate payments even without internet connectivity, plus its highly secure nature, makes it a more effective payment system.

In late October the PBoC announced that it was putting the finishing touches to DCEP, to enable both financial entities and individuals to enjoy the benefits that come with cryptos when it finally goes live.

Despite the regulatory issues still plaguing Project Libra, Libra Association has revealed in a blog post on November 15, 2019, that the Libra testnet has already logged an impressive 51,000 transactions since September 2019, with a total of 34 blockchain projects now residing on the network.

Though, regardless of that significant milestone, it still remains unclear whether Libra will ever see the light of day.

On November 13, 2019, Facebook announced the launch of Facebook Pay, a cross-application payment service that will allow users of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger to make payments.