The former deputy director of the People’s Bank of China has stated that virtual currency can exist in tandem with government-issued currency in a public speech.

Speaking at the Sanya Forum international finance event, Wu Xiaoling asserted that “private money in a digital form can coexist with government money” and that such a situation is “the norm in human society.”

The surprising remarks seem to be the most explicit yet to come from an official Chinese source regarding the recognition, or even legitimacy, of digital currency. At the least, they would appear to be an expansion of current deputy Xu Nuojin’s previous statement in June, in which he stated that “there is space for Bitcoin to exist” in China.

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LakeBTC, commented on the news to CoinTelegraph:

"Wu has a clear and accurate interpretation of cryptocurrencies, and it's in line with the policies by Chinese government in the past. They never shut the door to bitcoin companies and innovations. As a matter of fact, Chinese regulators are quite wise and open-minded to the new technology: Bitcoin is a type of commodity that people are free to own, buy, and sell. "Wu was the deputy governor of PBOC. Now she's more like an economist and a think-tank supporting PBOC's policymaking. People still listen to what she has to say, but we should not "over-react" the importance of this speech. "She said: 'Digital currency must be regulated, and the transaction process should be traceable.' This statement is consistent with the opinions of most other jurisdictions. Anti-money laundering, anti-terrorism, investor/consumer protection are what regulators case most about. For example, futures trading, financial derivatives, gambling are strictly regulated in China and many other countries, and it's dangerous for traders to ignore the policy risk involved. The most important asset of an exchange is not the number of new financial products or trading volume, but the territory of the compliance, along with financial risk management and internal controls, which are exactly LakeBTC's strengths."

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