Money is an extremely important role in the history of human civilization. It is the market equivalent, that is, money. China is one of the earliest countries to use money, with a history of 5,000 years. In the process of its formation and development, human currency has experienced five extremely important stages of evolution and development, which are simply classified as follows:
1, physical currency: refers to the ancient barter exchange. Grain, cloth, fur, tools, ceramics, livestock, shells, etc. Have been circulated as money.
2. Metal currency: Gold, silver, copper, iron and other currencies have appeared in history, with different forms.
3. Paper money: all countries are using it, such as RMB, USD, Euro, GBP, Korean won, etc.
4. Electronic money: Bank card, Alipay and WeChat change are the most typical ones.
5. digital currency: This is the fifth stage of monetary development, and it has arrived. Based on technologies such as open blockchain and computer encryption, it is developed and published by netizens relying on the Internet. Typical representatives are Bitcoin and Ethereum.
At present, the Bank of China is also engaged in research and experiments in digital currency. In 20 14, the central bank set up a special research group to explore the technology and practicality of digital currency.
With the rapid development of Internet technology and the constant change of payment methods, digital currency, represented by Bitcoin, has attracted wide attention.
Second, what is digital currency?
At present, there is no very accurate unified definition of digital currency.
1. Baidu Encyclopedia: digital currency is an alternative currency in the form of electronic money. Digital currency is different from the virtual currency in the virtual world, because it can be used for real goods and services transactions, not limited to online games.
2. Time Finance 2065438+2006 No.24 "Analysis of digital currency-related Issues" mentioned that the International Financial Action Task Force defined digital currency as a form of data expression showing the functions of trading medium, accounting unit and value storage through data transactions. The digital currency proposed by the International Monetary Fund refers to the numerical expression of value, but it is not the legal tender of any country or region. There is no government authority to guarantee it, and the above functions can only be played through agreements between users. Therefore, digital currency is different from electronic money. Electronic money is a digital representation of legal tender, which is used for electronic transactions of legal tender.
3. Wen Xinxiang, deputy director of the Monetary Policy Department of the People's Bank of China, agrees with the article in China Finance (20 16, 17) that electronic money and virtual money are collectively referred to as digital currency.
The above is digital currency's definition. The following figure distinguishes three concepts: digital currency, electronic currency and virtual currency.
Electronic money: issued by financial institutions, the scope of application is generally unrestricted. The number of issues is determined by the legal tender, namely RMB. Storage methods include magnetic card and account number, bank card and Alipay WeChat account number. Value is equal to legal tender.
Virtual currency: QQ currency mentioned in the picture is virtual currency, which is issued by network operators, such as Tencent. The value and quantity are also determined by Tencent. It's a single cycle, which means recharging in RMB, but you can't change Q coins into RMB. I'm just saying it won't work in Tencent. As for the number of Q coins on Taobao 10 yuan, it doesn't count.
Digital currency: Also known as encrypted digital currency and digital currency, it is a currency created, distributed and maintained by using complex cryptographic algorithms and computer technology without relying on any physical objects. Different from electronic money. Regarding the changing trend of currency, the industry thinks that digital currency is the general trend. Such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, etc.