ICO、虚拟货币交易平台先后被叫停

编者按 近年来，比特币价格迅速攀升，吸引了大批中小投资者参与。同时，以比特币和各类虚拟货币为媒介的非法金融活动蔓延，风险巨大。监管层反复提示虚拟货币及ICO存在风险，并于近期叫停ICO、关停虚拟货币交易平台。本版今起推出“严控虚拟货币风险”系列报道，以帮助读者进一步认清虚拟货币本质，防范炒买炒卖及相关各类非法金融风险。

At the same time, illicit financial activity in the form of Bitcoin and various virtual currencies has spread with great risks. Regulatory levels have repeatedly pointed to the risks of virtual currency and ICO, and have recently shut down the ICO and virtual currency trading platforms.

日前，火币网、OKCoin宣布将停止注册和充值，并将于10月31日前依次逐步停止所有数字资产兑换人民币的交易。比特币中国、微比特、云币网等虚拟货币交易平台也均宣布即将关停。此前，针对首次代币发行(ICO)乱象，7部门联合发文予以叫停。

Today, the gunnet, OKCoin, announced that it would cease registration and charging, and that it would phase out all transactions involving the conversion of digital assets into the renminbi by 31 October. Virtual currency trading platforms such as Bitcoin China, microbitt, and the Yunnet would be shut down.

比特币中国宣布关闭交易当日，各大虚拟货币暴跌。比特币中国数据显示，比特币当日下跌约20%，跌破2万元，莱特币和以太币日内跌幅均超过30%。随后，暴跌仍在继续，比特币一度触及16000元，创下近两月以来新低。

Bitcoin, on the day that it announced the closure of the deal, collapsed in the major virtual currencies. Bitcoin, on the other hand, showed that bitcoin fell by about 20%, fell by 20,000 dollars, and that Leitco and Etega fell by more than 30%.

在一系列监管政策出台后，虚拟货币将走向何方？

Where will the virtual currency go after a series of regulatory policies?

虚拟货币不是货币

Virtual currency is not currency.

无论是7部门发文中对虚拟货币予以定性，还是业内专家学者得出的结论，均指向一点：虚拟货币不是法定货币。

Whether the characterization of a virtual currency in seven sectoral communications or the conclusions reached by industry experts points to the point that a virtual currency is not a legal currency.

比特币的研发者信奉和主张货币去国家化，部分怂恿人们投资的机构也将其作为卖点，认为诸如比特币等虚拟货币未来可能成为主流，甚至会取代法定货币。事实上，与主权货币不同，虚拟货币的信用基础是数学算法，其价格取决于算法的可靠性及市场信心等因素，技术上还存在很多缺陷和漏洞，价值根基非常脆弱。

In fact, unlike sovereign currencies, virtual currencies are based on mathematical algorithms, their prices depend on the reliability of algorithms and market confidence, and there are many technical flaws and loopholes, and the value base is fragile.

早在2013年，中国人民银行等5部委发布的《关于防范比特币风险的通知》中就明确了比特币的性质，认为比特币不是由货币当局发行，不具有法偿性与强制性等货币属性，并不是真正意义上的货币。“从性质上看，比特币是一种特定的虚拟商品，不具有与货币等同的法律地位，不能且不应作为货币在市场上流通使用。”

As early as 2013, the nature of Bitcoin was clarified in the Circular on Protection against the Risk of Bitcoin issued by five ministries, including the People’s Bank of China, which considered that Bitcoin was not issued by the monetary authorities, was not of a monetary nature, was not of a legal and mandatory nature, and was not a currency in the true sense. “In its nature, Bitcoin is a specific virtual commodity that has no legal status equivalent to that of money and cannot and should not be used as a currency in the market.”

近日，7部门在《关于防范代币发行融资风险的公告》中也指出，代币发行融资中使用的代币或虚拟货币不由货币当局发行，不具有法偿性与强制性等货币属性，不具有与货币等同的法律地位，不能也不应作为货币在市场上流通使用。

In recent days, seven departments have also pointed out in the Proclamation on Protection against the Risk of Financing the Issue of Currency Issue that the currencies or virtual currencies used in the financing of the issue of currencies are not issued by the monetary authorities, have no monetary attributes such as legal and mandatory, have no legal status equivalent to that of currencies, and cannot and should not be used as currencies in the market.

“现在看来，它只是创造了一种可以炒作的资产。”CFT50高级学术顾问、国家金融与发展实验室理事长李扬认为，比特币不可能是货币。首先，币的第一个条件是币值稳定，然后别人才能用来衡量交易。其次，它必须随着实体经济的发展不断地同比例增加供应。由于比特币数量有限，不可能跟上实体经济发展的步伐，因此也无法将其作为货币来使用。

First, the first condition of the currency is that the currency is stable, and then it can be used by others to measure transactions. Second, it has to increase supply in the same proportion as the real economy develops. Because of the limited number of bitcoins, it is impossible to keep pace with the real economy and therefore cannot be used as a currency.

中国互联网金融创新研究院院长、中央财经大学金融法研究所所长黄震也认为，比特币价格波动剧烈，自身价值不稳定的物品无法充当货币，所以比特币只能是一种被称之为“币”的数字产品。

The President of the Institute of Internet Financial Innovation of China and the Director of the Central University of Finance and Economics Institute of Financial Law of China, Huang Chien, also argued that the price of bitcoin was highly volatile and that items whose value was unstable could not be used as currency, so that bitcoin could only be a digital product known as “currency”.

开展数字货币研究

Development of a digital currency study

“由中央银行推动发行法定数字货币势在必然。”中国人民银行副行长范一飞日前撰文指出，从现有的一些类数字货币看，其背后的机制都是去中心化，主要通过分布式记账方法建立信任体系。这些类数字货币依然存在着与历史上私人货币一样的根本性缺陷：价值不稳，公信力不强，可接受范围有限，容易产生较大负外部性。

“It is inevitable that the central bank will drive the issuance of statutory digital currencies.” Fan Yi, Vice-President of the People’s Bank of China, wrote a few days ago that the mechanisms behind the existing ones are decentralized, mainly through distributed accounting. These digital currencies still have the same fundamental flaws as historical private currencies: their value is unstable, their credibility is weak, and their acceptability is limited, and they tend to create a greater negative externality.

这意味着，当前火爆的比特币等虚拟货币并没有成为法定货币的基础。目前，由中央银行发行的法定数字货币正在酝酿之中。

This means that virtual currencies such as the currently hot bitcoin do not form the basis of the statutory currency. The statutory digital currency issued by the central bank is currently being developed.

2014年起，中国人民银行就成立了专门的研究团队，并于2015年初进一步充实力量，对数字货币发行和业务运行框架、数字货币的关键技术、数字货币发行流通环境等展开了深入研究，目前已取得阶段性成果。

Since 2014, the People's Bank of China has set up a special research team and strengthened it further in early 2015, conducting in-depth studies on the framework for digital currency distribution and operations, key technologies for digital currency distribution, and the environment in which digital money is issued, among other things, and has now achieved milestones.

对于数字货币，央行行长周小川曾解释道，目前现钞的发行和回笼是基于现行“中央银行—商业银行机构”的二元体系来完成的。数字货币的发行与运行仍然应基于该二元体系完成，但货币的运送和保管发生了变化：运送方式从物理运送变成了电子传送;保存方式从央行的发行库和银行机构的业务库变成了储存数字货币的云计算空间。最终，数字货币发行和回笼的安全程度、效率会得到极大提升。

With regard to digital money, Central Bank Governor Zhou Xiaochuan explained that the current issuance and repatriation of cash is based on the current dual system of “Central Bank-Bank Banking Institutions.” The distribution and operation of digital money should still be based on the dual system, but the delivery and custody of money has changed: the mode of delivery has changed from physical to electronic; and the method of preservation has changed from the central bank’s distribution bank and banking institution’s operating bank to a cloud computing space for storing digital currency.

当前，世界主要央行都在关注数字货币话题。此前，英格兰银行对发行法定数字货币态度较为积极，目前，已开始研究如何有效利用数字货币技术，并早已开始研究由中央银行发行法定数字货币的可行性。

Currently, the world’s major central banks are focusing on digital currency issues. Previously, the Bank of England had taken a more active approach to issuing statutory digital currency, and had now begun to study how to make effective use of digital currency technology, and had already begun to examine the feasibility of issuing statutory digital currency by central banks.

还有专家表示，法定数字货币是货币数字化的“主旋律”，货币数字化的创新活动将围绕法定数字货币发生和发展。诸如比特币、以太币这样的“虚拟货币”并不会取而代之。

It has also been suggested that the legal digital currency is the “mode” of monetary digitization, and that the innovation of monetary digitization will occur and develop around the legal digit currency. A “virtual currency” such as Bitcoin, or a “virtual currency” such as a dar currency, will not be replaced.

真正推出尚需时日

It's gonna take some time for real rollout.

无论是从技术还是安全等角度来看，法定数字货币从研究设计到推出，再被人们接受，仍然任重道远。

Whether from a technical or security point of view, there is still a long way to go from the design of research to its introduction and acceptance.

“法定数字货币需要过市场检验这一关，只有被社会和市场接受的法定数字货币才有生命力。”中国人民银行数字货币研究所研究人员表示，数字货币需要借鉴吸收传统货币和非现金支付工具两方面优点，发挥比较优势，接受市场检验，从而有效降低社会交易总成本，助力经济运行提质增效。

“The legal digital currency needs to pass the market test threshold and is viable only if it is accepted by society and the market.” According to researchers at the Digital Monetary Institute of the People's Bank of China, digital currency needs to draw on the advantages of absorbing both traditional monetary and non-cash payment instruments, to exploit comparative advantages and to be subject to market testing, thereby effectively reducing the total cost of social transactions and contributing to improved efficiency in the functioning of the economy.

数字货币首先要解决的是技术障碍。区块链技术是目前最广泛认知，也被认为是最有前景的数字货币技术。然而，欧洲央行及日本央行日前表示，尽管区块链等分布式账本技术有潜力改善系统弹性，但还不够成熟，无法支撑全世界最庞大的支付系统。这一结论与美联储及加拿大银行前不久的评估一致。

The block chain technology is currently the most widely recognized and considered the most promising digital money technology. However, the ECB and the Bank of Japan have recently stated that, while distributed book technology, such as block chains, has the potential to improve system elasticity, it is not mature enough to support the largest payment system in the world.

正因如此，我国央行要推出的数字货币设计上将更加复杂。除了区块链技术，我国央行数字货币研究团队还深入研究了数字货币涉及的其他相关技术。

That is why the design of digital money to be introduced by our central bank will be more complex. In addition to block chain technology, our central bank’s digital currency research team has studied in depth other relevant technologies related to digital currency.

除此之外，如何保障安全、保护隐私等也是数字货币设计中面临的核心问题。

In addition to this, how to guarantee security and protect privacy are central issues in the design of digital money.

周小川曾阐述央行发行数字货币的几个原则：一是提供便利性和安全性;二是做到保护隐私与维护社会秩序、打击违法犯罪行为的平衡，尤其针对洗钱、恐怖主义等犯罪行为要保留必要的遏制手段;三是要有利于货币政策的有效运行和传导;四是要保留货币主权的控制力，数字货币是自由可兑换的，同时也是可控的可兑换。数字货币作为法定货币必须由央行来发行，数字货币的发行、流通和交易，都应遵循传统货币与数字货币一体化的思路，实施同样原则的管理。

Zhou Xiaochuan has set out several principles for the issuance of digital currency by central banks: first, facilitation and security; second, a balance between the protection of privacy and the maintenance of social order and the fight against criminal offences, in particular money-laundering and terrorism, with the necessary deterrents; third, the effective operation and transmission of monetary policy; fourth, the preservation of the control of monetary sovereignty, which is freely convertible and controlled convertible. Digital currency, as a legal currency, must be issued by central banks, and the issuance, circulation and trading of digital currency should be governed by the same principles, along the lines of traditional monetary and digital monetary integration.

“要求货币发行去国家化是行不通的。”黄震表示，经过这一轮虚拟货币市场和监管的洗礼之后，期待在央行主导下，尽快推出我国自己的主权数字货币，助力我国数字金融早日走入全球化时代。(经济日报·中国经济网记者 陈果静)

“It is not feasible to demand denationalization of money distribution.” The earthquake indicated that after this round of virtual money markets and regulatory baptisms, it looked forward to the launch of our own sovereign digital currency as soon as possible, under the auspices of the central bank, to help our digital finance move early into the era of globalization.