Research On The Legal Regulation Of Digital Currency In China

At present,countries are actively exploring the issuance of digital currencies.The central bank of China,is also steadily advancing the digital currency research.China's digital currency is now known as the e-RMB,which refers to the digital currency issued by the People's Bank of China,also known as digital currency electronic payment.In terms of private law attributes,although digital currency is a new type of intangible object,it can be controlled and dominated by humans so as to realize the corresponding value.It should be considered as one of the objects of property rights.The "possession is ownership" rule of the currency is applied to the transfer of rights.In terms of public law attributes,digital currencies need to have legal solvency attributes and certain identity attributes due to their own characteristics.The legal attributes of the e-RMB are basically the same as that of the RMB,its issuance and circulation need to be regulated in accordance with the relevant laws and regulations of RMB banknotes.However,the e-RMB has the characteristics of digitization,which makes the current legal system of currency issuance and circulation management face difficulties.First,the Chinese law only stipulates RMB in the form of banknotes and coins.These two forms are tangible artifacts,excluding intangible digital currency,which means that digital currency lacks a legal basis for issuance.Second,the RMB works as an unlimited legal tender,and it may be challenging if the digital currency are applied with the same definition.Third,the current RMB anti-counterfeit currency system is actually constructed under the background of using "paper" as the main currency material.In the case of using digital currency,it is difficult to apply the system.Fourth,with the popularization and promotion of China's digital currency,it will profoundly affect the public's personal information protection,payment method selection,currency exchange and other issues,which puts forward higher requirements for the legal field.In view of these problems,It is necessary to introduce a special legal system to regulate the issuance and circulation of digital currency.First,it is necessary to establish the legal status of digital currency by amending the "Law of the People's Bank of China".In Chapter 3 "RMB",the clause "RMB exists in physical and digital forms" will be added in order to make the legal currency--the RMB cover the digital currency.Thus,the digital currency will become a digital form corresponding to the physical form of banknotes and coins.Digital currency,as a digital form of RMB,should be an unlimited legal tender,However,because the use of digital currency requires hardware and software conditions,the refusal of e-RMB under certain circumstances should be exempted from penalties.The People's bank of China can regulate these specific situations based on actual conditions such as the future issuance scale and circulation scope of the digital currency.Second,it is necessary to innovate the circulation management of digital currency.On the one hand,to establish a digital currency anti-counterfeit currency system,to unify the standards for the identification of digital currency counterfeit currency,to enhance the confidentiality of technology,to develop procedures for identifying and handling counterfeit currency,and to regulate digital currency anti-counterfeiting and anti-counterfeiting issues with systems.On the other hand,to establish an exchange mechanism between digital currency and traditional currency,to stipulate the legal conversion ratio of e-RMB and physical RMB in the form of legislation,to clarify the exchange obligations of commercial banks and the exchange management responsibilities of the central bank of China,in order to maintain the same value between banknotes,coins and digital currencies.Third,to protect the legitimate rights and interests in the use of digital currency.On the one hand,to formulate a special personal financial information protection system to protect personal information in the use of digital currency.On the other hand,to improve the protection mechanism for the right to select payment methods,to clarify the right of selecting payment methods in the form of legislation,and to clarify the obligations of various business entities to support cash payment methods,in order to guarantee the balanced development of cash payment(RMB banknotes and coins)and electronic payment(bank deposits and e-RMB).