Ex-Official Trolls Libra, Says China Likely to Issue Digital Currency First

A former high-ranking Congressional official said China’s central bank is likely to be the first to issue its own national digital currency, as he contended that Libra was doomed to fail.

Speaking at the Shanghai Bund Summit, Huang Qifan, former deputy director of the Congressional Financial and Economic Affairs Committee, explained how the national digital currency could affect the global financial market, according to a Chinese media report.

Huang said:

“I think the technology is getting more mature, and it is highly likely that China’s central bank will be the first to issue a national digital currency.”

In his speech, Huang affirmed the best way to fend off the stablecoins issued by private companies such as Facebook’s Libra is to let governments and central banks issue a country’s own digital currency.

“I personally don’t believe Libra will succeed,” he said. “Some companies attempt to challenge sovereign currency by issuing bitcoin or Libra….