國際清算銀行官員對薩爾瓦多比特幣“實驗”表示懷疑

Recently Yahoo News on-line reported the following:

BIS official casts doubt on El Salvador bitcoin 'experiment'

Fri., June 11, 2021, 2:36 a.m.

By David Milliken and Huw Jones

LONDON (Reuters) -El Salvador's decision to make bitcoin legal tender is an "interesting experiment" with a speculative asset that does not pass the test for being a reliable means of payment, a senior global central banking official said on Friday.

The central American country on Wednesday became the first country in the world to adopt bitcoin as its national currency, saying it would help Salvadorans living abroad send remittances home.

"El Salvador, that is an interesting experiment indeed," said Benoit Coeure, head of the innovation hub at the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).

"We have been clear at the BIS that we don't see bitcoin as having passed the test of being a means of payments. Bitcoin is a speculative asset and should be regulated at such," Coeure said at the launch of a regulatory research hub at the Bank of England (BoE).

The comments echo remarks from the International Monetary Fund, which said on Thursday it had economic and legal concerns regarding El Salvador's move.

El Salvador replaced its national currency with the U.S. dollar in 2001.

Rapid advances in private sector electronic payments and the reduced use of cash, accelerated by COVID-19, have forced central banks to consider developing digital versions of their own legal tender known as central bank digital currencies.

"We need to be at the cutting of technology," Coeure said. "We have to work with the private sector."

The BIS is setting up a network of innovation hubs across the world to allow central banks to share information on new payments technology and keep up with private sector initiatives, such as Facebook's Diem stablecoin.

Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies designed to have a stable value relative to traditional currencies or a commodity such as gold, to avoid the volatility that makes bitcoin and other digital tokens impractical for most commerce.

BoE Governor Andrew Bailey said regulators were cooperating closely over stablecoins' potential impact on financial stability, and also on developing their own digital currencies.

"If this comes to pass, it will be one of the most fundamental innovations in the history of central banking. It will move us into a new era," Bailey said.

Earlier this week, financial regulators for major economies proposed tough capital rules for banks holding cryptocurrencies, and Bailey said any stablecoin-based payment system would need to meet the same standards as banks.

(Reporting by David Milliken and Huw JonesEditing by Mark Potter)

Translation

倫敦（路透社）—— 一位全球央行高級官員周五表示，薩爾瓦多決定將比特幣設為法定貨幣是一項“有趣的實驗”，作為有投機性的資產, 並未通過可靠支付手段的測試。

週三，這個中美洲國家成為世界上第一個採用比特幣作為本國貨幣的國家，並稱這將幫助居住在國外的薩爾瓦多人匯款回國。

國際清算銀行 (BIS) 創新中心負責人 Benoit Coeure 說:“薩爾瓦多，這確實是一個有趣的實驗，”

Coeure在英格蘭銀行（BoE）的監管研究中心啟動儀式上說: “在國際清算銀行我們已經明確表示，我們認為比特幣沒有通過作為支付手段的測試。比特幣是一種投機資產，應該受到相應的監管” 。

這些評論與國際貨幣基金組織 (International Monetary Fund) 的言論相呼應，該組織週四表示，對薩爾瓦多的舉動有經濟和法律上擔憂。

薩爾瓦多於 2001 年用美元取代了本國貨幣。

私營部門電子支付的快速發展, 及COVID-19 加速了減少現金的使用，迫使中央銀行考慮開發自己的法定貨幣的數字版本，即中央銀行數字貨幣。

Coeure說，: “我們需要在技術前端”; “我們必須與私營部門合作。”

國際清算銀行正在全球範圍內建立一個創新中心網絡，以允許中央銀行共享有關新支付技術的信息, 並跟上私營部門的舉措，例如 Facebook 的 Diem 穩定幣。

穩定幣是旨在相對於傳統貨幣或黃金等商品更具有穩定價值的加密貨幣，以避免像比特幣和其他數字代幣波的動, 波動對大多數商業而言是不可行的。

英國央行行長Andrew Bailey表示，監管機構正在就穩定幣對金融穩定的潛在影響進行密切合作, 以及開發自己的數字貨幣。

Andrew Bailey說: “如果這成為現實，這將是央行歷史上最根本的創新之一。它將把我們帶入一個新時代” 。

本週早些時候，主要經濟體的金融監管機構對持有加密貨幣的銀行提出了嚴格的資本規定。Bailey表示，任何基於穩定幣的支付系統都需要符合與銀行相同的標準。

              So, El Salvador becomes the first country in the world to adopt bitcoin as its national currency. Stablecoins are digital currencies pegged to a fiat currency. California-based Silvergate Bank will issue the Diem USD stablecoin and manage the Diem USD reserve.

Note: for some background on Facebook's Diem stablecoin etc. please see the web-site of Reuter at  https://www.reuters.com/technology/facebook-backed-crypto-project-diem-launch-us-stablecoin-major-shift-2021-05-12/