In recent days, blockchain has been elevated to a height never seen before, which also makes the central bank's digital currency more attractive. What's the difference between blockchain and bitcoin, wechat and Alipay?
First of all, bitcoin. Generally speaking, in the past, the Internet can only transmit information, while bitcoin's network can transmit value, directly realizing point-to-point value transmission. Similarly, you can give me an apple, and I will give you a certain amount of bitcoin, which does not need to be transferred or bookkept by a third party such as a bank. However, due to the sharp price fluctuation of bitcoin, the transmission speed is far from meeting the daily transactions. Therefore, from the current situation, bitcoin is more like digital gold, with the function of value storage, payment and transfer. But bitcoin was issued by the public network, there is no third-party organization, no credit endorsement, and it is not in the currency circulation system of sovereign countries, so it is difficult to be regulated. Its value depends on the consensus (the more people believe, the more valuable). Moreover, bitcoin is not legal currency, which can be rejected in theory.
From this point of view, bitcoin is more like a kind of gold like commodity, with the functions of storage and preservation. Of course, it is also a kind of currency, only limited to a certain circle, people who believe in it, or some occasions where the national legal currency cannot be used, such as the dark net.
And the central bank's DCEP, DC-digital currency, EP-electronic payment. The issuing subject is the central bank, which has the national credit endorsement and is supervised by the central bank. You can simply understand that with the progress of science and technology, the country has found that people have a demand for digital currency. Therefore, the model of bitcoin has been used for reference and a controllable digital currency system has been created. When you go shopping, people can't refuse it. Therefore, the DCEP of the central bank is born to be currency and performs the function of currency.
DCEP is equivalent to digital banknotes, which is convenient to carry and transfer. Compared with banknotes that are not easy to track and compare, DCEP has more advantages and also saves costs (it also needs a lot of costs to print banknotes for anti-counterfeiting). Security, anonymity, no account and have a smartphone. Of course, security is certain, anonymity is not necessarily, and small amount may not be managed, once exceeding a certain limit, it is certain to bind bankcard with real name, so it can better anti money laundering.
Look at WeChat and Alipay again. Many people will say that WeChat and Alipay can also use small change, but in WeChat and Alipay, money is also a figure. But strictly speaking, the money in WeChat and Alipay is not the digitalization of legal tender. It's just a vest for your money in the bank to facilitate its daily settlement.
The central bank's DCEP, like bitcoin, will eventually behave as a string of independent codes. In this sense, Alipay and WeChat are just passages, just the mapping of money in your bank account. The actual settlement and transfer still occurs in the bank. And DCEP is happening directly in your personal wallet.
In this sense, I think that if DCEP continues to evolve, it may weaken WeChat's and Alipay's payment functions. In the long run, there will be a pattern of tripartite confrontation. But in the long run, the central bank's DCEP theory has the probability of replacing WeChat and Alipay.
Well, let's take care of today's market. From the perspective of bitcoin's general trend, I'd like to remind you that the good of blockchain is not equal to the good of the currency circle. It's unrealistic to expect to solve the problem in the short term. The good part falls behind the expectation of the currency circle. Therefore, the currency circle still needs to make preparations for long-term hardships and simplicity. In the current position, after the good is diluted and digested, if there is no further news stimulation, bitcoin will probably fluctuate downward, digesting the stock risk accumulated in the market in recent years.