Li Lihui's Vision: Why China Could Lead the Global Digital Currency Revolution
Blockchain Architectures: The Three-Way Fork in the Road
When former Bank of China governor Li Lihui dissected blockchain architectures at the 2019 ReFinTech Summit, he presented what we in fintech call the “trilemma menu”: public, private, or consortium chains - pick any two trade-offs between decentralization, speed, and control.
Public chains are the ideological purists’ choice - fully decentralized but slower than my morning coffee digestion. Bitcoin’s 7 TPS (transactions per second) would collapse under Alipay’s 256,000 TPS demands. Yet as Li noted, if they ever solve their scalability issues through sharding or layer-2 solutions, they could become viable for mainstream commerce.
Private chains are essentially digitized fiefdoms - centralized kingdoms wearing blockchain cosplay. Useful for internal banking ledgers? Absolutely. Revolutionary? Hardly. They’re like giving a blockchain sticker to your old database administrator.
Which brings us to consortium chains, Li’s predicted winner for commercial adoption. These semi-decentralized networks (think R3’s Corda) allow selective participation - imagine if Visa and Mastercard jointly ran a payment rail where banks could opt in. Faster than public chains, more transparent than private ones, they’re the Goldilocks solution for risk-averse institutions.
DC/EP: Digital Currency with Chinese Characteristics
China’s upcoming Digital Currency/Electronic Payment (DC/EP) system reveals fascinating design choices:
Dual-layer issuance: Unlike cryptocurrencies’ direct minting, DC/EP maintains the traditional central bank → commercial bank → public pipeline. Smart politics - no need to disrupt existing power structures overnight.
Controlled anonymity: Transactions hide user identities from merchants but remain visible to regulators. For citizens used to WeChat Pay’s total transparency, this might feel liberating. For privacy maximalists? More concerning than finding pre-mining in your ICO.
Offline capability: Using NFC-like tech, DC/EP works without internet - crucial for rural areas and disaster scenarios. Try that with your Ethereum wallet!
The real kicker? While framed as M0 (cash) replacement now, once infrastructure exists, expanding to M1/M2 is technically trivial. A backdoor monetary policy tool hiding in plain sight.
The New Cold War Front: Digital Sovereignty
Li’s warning about foreign tech dependence struck me hardest. When Germany/France launched their Gaia-X cloud initiative to counter US Big Tech dominance, they were playing the same game. Between GitHub’s US jurisdiction risks and Visa/Mastercard’s sanctions powers, financial infrastructure has become geopolitical artillery.
China’s strategy is clear: master core technologies (their Blockchain Service Network already runs on domestic chips), set global standards early, and weaponize economic scale. With Alipay/WeChat Pay’s billion-user networks as testing grounds, DC/EP could become the first CBDC achieving meaningful international adoption through Belt & Road partnerships.
As a quant who’s seen Wall Street’s plumbing, I’ll say this: whoever wins the digital currency standards war will shape 21st-century finance more profoundly than Bretton Woods did last century. And right now, Beijing is playing chess while others debate checkers rules.
QuantDragon
Hot comment (9)
ब्लॉकचेन का त्रिकोणीय खेल
ली लिहुई ने सही कहा - पब्लिक ब्लॉकचेन धीमी है जैसे दिल्ली की ट्रैफिक, प्राइवेट ब्लॉकचेन सिर्फ़ डेटाबेस का नया नाम है!
चीन की डिजिटल करेंसी
DC/EP वाला तरीका समझदारी भरा है - ऑफ़लाइन पेमेंट और ‘थोड़ा गोपनीय’। हमारे यहाँ तो UPI है, पर चीन वाले अपना रास्ता बना रहे हैं!
अंतर्राष्ट्रीय मोर्चा
डिजिटल करेंसी की लड़ाई में चीन शतरंज खेल रहा है जबकि दूसरे लुडो पर उलझे हैं! आपको क्या लगता है - कौन जीतेगा यह टेक युद्ध? 🤔
La Chine joue aux échecs monétaires
Quand Li Lihui parle blockchain, on sent le coup de maître : le DC/EP chinois combine contrôle et innovation comme un sommelier marierait Bordeaux et… algorithme (oui, j’ai ruiné la métaphore).
Trois choix, comme au resto
- Blockchains publiques ? Lent comme un service SNCF en grève.
- Privées ? Centralisées comme Macron en réunion Covid.
- Consortium : le juste milieu - enfin un concept que les banques peuvent digérer !
Et ce petit détail génial du DC/EP qui marche sans internet… parce qu’en Chine rurale, le 4G c’est encore du luxe ! 😉
Alors, prêts pour la révolution crypto… made in China ? 🚀 #GeekDeVin
ब्लॉकचेन का त्रिकोणीय मैच
ली लिहुई ने सही कहा - पब्लिक चेन धीमी है जैसे दिल्ली की ट्रैफिक, प्राइवेट चेन सिर्फ़ डेटाबेस का नया लुक, और कंसोर्टियम चेन गोल्डीलॉक्स की तरह ‘जस्ट राइट’!
डीसी/ईपी: चीन का स्मार्ट मूव
ऑफ़लाइन पेमेंट? भारत के गाँवों के लिए तो ये वरदान होगा! पर याद रखो, ये सिर्फ़ M0 है… M1/M2 का सरप्राइज बाकी है।
डिजिटल सॉवरेन्टी की जंग
गिटहब पर अमेरिका का दबदबा? विसा-मास्टरकार्ड की सैंक्शन पावर? चीन ने तो अपना BSN बना ही लिया! अब डिजिटल करेंसी में भी ‘मेड इन चाइना’ का दबदबा होगा।
क्या आपको लगता है भारत को भी CBDC में इस तरह की स्मार्ट स्ट्रेटजी अपनानी चाहिए? कमेंट में बताओ!
La Chine joue aux échecs financiers
Quand Li Lihui parle de blockchain, c’est comme si votre oncle tech vous expliquait pourquoi Bitcoin est lent comme un escargot sous sédatifs. Mais attention, la Chine a une longueur d’avance avec son DC/EP !
Contrôlé mais innovant
Leur monnaie digitale ? Anonyme… sauf pour Big Brother. Pratique pour les régulateurs, un peu moins pour les paranos de la vie privée. Et surtout, ça marche sans internet ! Essayez donc avec votre wallet Ethereum dans le métro parisien…
Et la France dans tout ça ?
On discute encore des règles du jeu pendant que Pékin construit l’avenir. Alors, prêts à adopter le yuan digital ? Ou on continue à pleurer sur notre retard techno ? #GameOfCoins
Checkmate sa Digital Currency!
Grabe ang vision ni Li Lihui! Parang naglalaro ng 4D chess ang China sa digital currency game. Yung DC/EP nila? Akala mo cash lang pero may secret menu pala for monetary policy!
Consortium chains daw ang winner - hindi masyadong wild tulad ng Bitcoin, hindi rin boring na parang database lang. Sakto lang para sa mga bangko na ayaw mag-all in sa crypto!
Tapos yung offline feature? Pwede kang magbayad kahit nasa bundok ka at walang signal - try mo yan sa Ethereum mo! 😂
Sino sa tingin nyo ang mauuna sa digital currency race - China o US? Drop your bets sa comments!
¿DC/EP o Bitcoin? El dilema del siglo XXI
Li Lihui nos ha dado el menú financiero del futuro: ¿Quieres descentralización o velocidad? ¡Como elegir entre un asado lento o un delivery rápido!
El detalle que nadie vio: La capacidad offline de DC/EP es como tener efectivo… pero sin esos billetes sucios en tu bolsillo. ¡Hasta funciona después del apocalipsis zombie!
Y tú, ¿prefieres la filosofía crypto pura o la “blockchain con características chinas”? ¡Comenta abajo mientras el Yuan Digital conquista el mundo!
Lihui vừa tiết lộ bí kíp ‘3 trong 1’ của Trung Quốc
Ông cựu thống đốc Ngân hàng Trung Quốc này chẳng khác nào ‘thầy phù thủy’ tiền số: công khai, riêng tư hay liên minh - chain nào cũng có trade-off như mua đồ giảm giá trên Shopee vậy!
DC/EP - Tiền mặt 4.0 siêu lầy
Ẩn danh có kiểm soát? Như đi bar mà vẫn bố mẹ theo dõi qua camera! Còn tính năng offline thì xịn hơn cả ví Ethereum - mất mạng vẫn ‘chuyển khoản’ được như đi chợ truyền thống.
Bài toán địa chính trị: Khi GitHub với Visa thành ‘vũ khí’, Trung Quốc đã chuẩn bị BSN như áo giáp made in China. Giờ đây DC/EP qua dự án Vành đai - Con đường sẽ là đồng CBDC đầu tiên ‘xâm chiếm’ toàn cầu.
Các trader crypto như tôi chỉ biết thở dài: Đây không phải là FOMO mà là FOMĐ (Fear Of Missing Đổi mới) thật sự! Các bạn nghĩ sao?
