On October 25, at the 2nd Bund Finance Summit in Shanghai, Mu Changchun, director of the Digital Currency Research Institute of the Bank of China, disclosed that counterfeit digital currency has appeared in pilot cities such as Shen Zhen, Suzhou, Xiong’an New Area, and Chengdu. The central bank is facing issues with the prevention of people counterfeiting digital currency. The general public was shocked about the news. People commented that they believe that paper money is much safer than digital currency because digital currency is easier to counterfeit than paper money and the cost of counterfeiting is lower. The Central Bank rushed to introduce digital currency even though the technology is still pre-mature.
The Bank of China has been studying digital currency since 2014. They kept a low profile from the outside world for a number of years. However, as more information has been made public recently, it has triggered high expectations on the launch of digital currency. Even though the officials have repeatedly emphasized the advantages of digital currency over traditional paper money, they have obviously ignored the problems that would come with the digital currency.
Source: Radio Free Asia, October 28, 2020
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/jingmao/QL1-10282020042449.html