In a press conference on Wednesday, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) — China’s central bank — said made comments on their stance on the digital currency bitcoin.
In that conference, the PBOC noted that they don’t wish to eliminate bitcoin, as it were.
“We don’t want to suppress or discriminate against bitcoin,” said Sheng Song Cheng, who heads the financial survey and statistics department at the bank.
Despite intentions to not discriminate against bitcoin, the national bank simply doesn’t view it as a currency.
“We are simply saying it is not a currency,” he said.
“We took a look at Bitcoin and it doesn’t have the characteristics of a currency. As far as I know, the vast majority of countries does not recognize Bitcoin as a currency,” continued Sheng.
He noted that the PBOC continues to monitor bitcoin and “will continue to focus on Bitcoin and its associated risks, strengthen the monitoring and analysis and guide the public to establish a correct concept of money and investment philosophy.”
Earlier this month, Sheng Song Cheng wrote what could be classified as a negative opinion on bitcoin, holding the same opinion of not recognizing bitcoin as money in any form. (via Bitcoin Examiner)