China’s central bank speculates that interest in the country’s digital Yuan project is in part driven by the surging price of bitcoin, reports CNBC. Officials say the demand is also related to more and more central banks participating in the development of domestic digital currencies.
China’s digital Yuan is an example of a central bank digital currency aiming to replace some of the cash in circulation, as bitcoin remains effectively banned in the country.
Last month, China’s Inner Mongolia region banned new cryptocurrency mining projects to push to clean up its energy consumption.
China’s central bank has been working on a digital currency since 2014 and is leading others, including Japan, the U.K., Sweden, and Switzerland in exploring their own digital currencies.Bitcoin is currently gaining. BTCUSD is up 1.31%
