Beijing (AFP)

China, which decided two years ago to put cryptocurrencies on the index, accelerates the preparations for its own virtual currency at the time Facebook promises to revolutionize payments with his "libra".

This is a turning point for Beijing, which in 2017 accused cryptocurrencies of being "the instrument of criminal activity" at the service of drug trafficking and financial fraud.

In late September, the boss of the central bank, Yi Gang, said the future virtual currency would be associated with electronic payment means (WeChat, AliPay ...) that the Chinese already use on smartphone to pay most of their purchases.

He did not, however, give any timetable. The Chinese press is speculating on a launch on November 11, the day of the "Singles Day", which gives rise to a frenzy of online shopping.

No details either on the functioning of the future currency.

"We can consider blockchain technology (such as bitcoin) or other technology that evolves from existing electronic payments," said Yi.

It would then be more an electronic money, that is to say stored on a support, than a cryptocurrency like bitcoin, which is based on networked computers.

But one thing is certain: it will be a "centralized management", the opposite of the participatory philosophy of bitcoin, he warned.

"The central bank will be at the first level as a coordinator and the other banking institutions of the country below," decrypts Stanislas Pogorzelski, editor in chief of the specialized site Cryptonaute.fr.

The purpose: "replace cash," he explains.

- An upheaval -

China was once a stronghold of bitcoin, the most widespread virtual currency.

Just two years ago, China's three major Chinese bitcoin trading platforms (BTC China, Okcoin and Huobi) accounted for more than 98 percent of world trade, according to the benchmark site bitcoinity.org. But the sector was unregulated and transactions went under the radar of the authorities.

Beijing whistled the end of the recess in 2017 and closed the trading platforms cryptocurrency.

But the communist regime fears being overtaken by the future currency of the US Facebook, however blocked in China.

"You can take an interest in the technology behind bitcoin and not like the way it is implemented and want to create your own bitcoin with the desired characteristics," says Stanislas Pogorzelski.

Promised next year, the libra should make it possible to buy goods or send money as easily as an instant message.

As such, the libra, like bitcoin, "represents a danger for the yuan" at a time when Beijing is anxious to stabilize its currency, said Song Houze, think tank MacroPolo specializing in the Chinese economy.

The announced birth of Libra is an "alert" for Beijing, according to a former senior official of the central bank quoted in the Chinese press. And to explain that the international monetary system could be upset.

A worry shared elsewhere in France.

Paris opposes the development of the libra "on the European soil", estimating that the sovereignty of the States is at stake, explained at the beginning of September the Minister of Finance, Bruno Mayor. The Senate advocated at the beginning of the month the creation of a public cryptocurrency, under the aegis of the European Central Bank (ECB).

Several companies involved in the Libra project - including Visa, Mastercard and eBay - have also dropped Facebook.

- "Stay in the loop" -

"The Chinese central bank must stay in the game when the use of paper money declines," says Song.

With a national cryptocurrency, the authorities will have "a better overview of transactions in the country," say analysts at the firm Trivium China, based in Beijing. Virtual currency could help "improve risk management and reduce financial malpractice," they said in a note.

The central bank can directly "collect new information that it can not have with a cash transaction," said Song Houze.

Less traceable by definition, "species are the last bastion of privacy," says Pogorzelski.

In a country where "social credit" systems and face-recognition cameras are becoming more widespread, cryptocurrency could help "keep a closer watch on people's actions," he warns.

© 2019 AFP