Editor's Note: This article comes from36 krypton36 krypton
, Text: Yang Yaru, published with authorization.
The recent currency circle has been ups and downs, Xu Mingxing was arrested, Wall Street sings more...
It has been three years since Bitcoin fell from the altar of $20,000 after shedding the magical cloak of the "quick rich" dream.
On November 6, data from the Coinmarketcap platform showed that Bitcoin soared to $15,900 in a short-term, a new high since January 2018. From re-standing above the $13,000 mark at the end of October to returning above $15,000, it was a long-lost breakthrough for Bitcoin, and the driving force behind it originally came from an announcement from the other side of the ocean.
The global payment company PayPal announced that it has joined the cryptocurrency market. Users can buy, sell and hold cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and Litecoin (LTC) through the PayPal platform.The creation of trading platforms is not new, and users can also use these virtual currencies on the 2600Wanshang
PayPal just opened a small gate, but it shocked the entire currency circle.
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Bitcoin's "Broken Circle"
The enthusiasm in the currency circle stems from PayPal's break.
Making money on Bitcoin trading platforms is nothing new, and PayPal is not the only payment platform eyeing this piece of fat.
Cash App is equivalent to the US version"AlipayAlipay
", the services it provides include buying, holding and selling Bitcoin. In the first half of this year, Square's revenue was US$3.305 billion, of which, the revenue from Bitcoin was US$1.182 billion, a year-on-year increase of 518.8%. It also rose to 35.8 percent from 8.9 percent a year earlier.
The strong profitability of the trading platform is due to the speculative nature of Bitcoin. At present, 13 listed companies hold a total of about US$6.9 billion in Bitcoin, and 12 of them have achieved profitability in their investment. Especially since the epidemic this year, Bitcoin investment has become a safe-haven asset used by many investors to hedge against inflation risks, and it has become popular again.
The story is about to end here, but PayPal has given several mainstream currencies, including Bitcoin, a certain circulation value-allowing customers to use their cryptocurrencies to shop at merchants on their network.
Why PayPal can innovate?
PayPal also supports 25 international mainstream currencies such as the U.S. dollar, Japanese yen, and euro, and occupies a large market share in the global cross-border e-commerce third-party settlement and payment platform, which will provide a new imaginary basis for cryptocurrency to cross-border payment , and decentralized digital currency has obvious advantages.
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Cost Advantage Vs. Regulatory Fear
At present, cross-border payments have to go through two "gates". The first gate is the cross-border clearing system of each country's local currency, such as the US dollar cross-border clearing system (CHIPS), China's RMB cross-border payment system (CIPS), and the second gate It is the international telex system (SWIFT) shared by all countries. When SWIFT is connected to the cross-border clearing system of each country, cross-border payment can be realized.
Under the complex clearing process, the wire transfer usually takes 2 to 3 working days to arrive. In addition to the handling fee, the telegraph fee is also charged. The long time-consuming and high cost have become the "slots" of this system. The cryptocurrency based on blockchain technology is a new peer-to-peer payment method with higher security, which can bypass the high delay and high cost of bank payment, and is more compatible with cross-border payment. A small fee, potentially saving merchants and customers fees.
Businesses benefit most from using cryptocurrencies for payment, but the U.S. government has always been cautious.
The Fed was the first to express concern. Powell bluntly stated that he is not in a hurry to launch a central bank digital currency (CBDC) for the simple reason that the risks of theft and fraud are immeasurable. The privacy, technical complexity, and ease of cross-border payment of digital currency, if the supervision is not effective, will provide opportunities for cross-border money laundering and terrorist crimes, and the risks are not easy to identify, and the consequences are unpredictable.
Facebook's Libra digital currency project has touched the sensitive regulatory nerves of the US authorities, but PayPal and Visa debit cards have made a prototype for the US government to promote digital currency. The Visa debit card will be launched by Coinbase in the United States early next year and supports 9 commonly used currencies. Users can directly convert their cryptocurrencies into U.S. dollars before ATM withdrawals and shopping.
Instead of promoting new coins, let local companies take the lead, and do some short-axis extensions on existing cryptocurrencies. After all, the US government is still cautious about "issuing coins".
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The value of "connecting every village"
Although it is a path, "Yang Ma" and the Federal Reserve do not have the same attitude.
The digital currency (DC/EP) issued by the People's Bank of China has been preparing since 2014. It originated from Bitcoin and accelerated from Libra. The value of Bitcoin is mainly based on "community consensus" (POW consensus mechanism), and its value is not stable. And Libra is anchored in legal currency, which has the support of national credit and has become an "enterprise version of digital dollars". The vigilance of the Federal Reserve and central banks of various countries is reasonable.
Of course, this also accelerated the process of the "Yangma" digital currency. After all, the U.S. dollar is a strong legal currency, and there is no strong demand for the official digital U.S. dollar.
When Japan was still struggling with the digitalization process, and when the United States was worried about threatening national security, China had actually implemented digital currency. The issuance of the "Implementation Plan for the Comprehensive Reform Pilot of Shenzhen's Pioneering Demonstration Zone for Building Socialism with Chinese Characteristics" by the General Office of the Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council means that the digital currency has entered the stage of implementation.
The digital currency issued by the People's Bank of China has national credit. The RMB 1:1 anchored DCEP will be combined with electronic payment to partially replace cash. Simply put, the central bank's digital currency is digital cash.
Unlike the credit card payment that many developed countries are keen on, China's online payment is developing faster, which is the soil where DCEP was first born and promoted. In other words, China Pay has directly realized corner overtaking.
Alipay and WeChat have achieved the necessary manpower and access to every village, which provides the basis for the promotion of digital currency. Statistics from Statista show that in 2017, Chinese e-wallet payments represented by Alipay and WeChat Pay accounted for 49% of all payment methods, while in the United States, e-wallets led by PayPal only had a 15% market share. Credit cards ranked first, accounting for 30%.
Digital currency is the money in the original bank account, while the online payment account is an accounting account, which is associated with the funds in its bank card.The difference between them is that the digital currency is directly connected to the bank, which is more efficient and does not require handling fees as a public product, while online payment institutions need to clear and charge handling fees. Obviously, whether it is public or private, digital currency is economicalarrange a time
The cost can also save the handling fee.
Moreover, the central bank can also directly supervise the flow of each fund, so as to better regulate the monetary policy.
The digital currency is used in the same way as Alipay and WeChat in the final payment link, and payment can be made by scanning the code. What is more convenient is that the central bank has adopted the "dual offline" technology, which allows the payment to be completed even when both the payer and the payer are offline.digital goodscurrency club
Instead of Alipay and WeChat?As of the second quarter of this year, the data show that Alipay,Tenpay
(including WeChat payment) has a total market share of over 94%, which is where the greatest value of online payment tools such as Alipay and WeChat lies-accounts.
In this "dislocation" competition, the existing payment structure will not be shaken in the short term. Digital currency and third-party payment are currently in a complementary relationship. The implementation of digital currency depends on the current payment software account, third-party account or Will become a pure payment tool. In the long run, DCEP not only has the possibility of taking over retail payments, but will also make efforts in commercial cross-border payments in the future.
At present, there is no timetable for the official launch of the digital renminbi system, and there are still technical barriers to the full issuance of DCEP.
On the one hand, not all commercial banks that play the role of distributors have complete IT systems, which requires all commercial banks to improve their technical security capabilities in terms of safe storage and efficient execution. On the other hand, although digital renminbi is at the forefront of the world, but at the same time There is no mature regulatory experience and successful implementation cases for reference.
