US senators are trying to ban apps that use China’s home-grown crypto
Bill would ban compatible apps from digital marketplaces
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Republican senators have put forward a bill that would make it illegal for app stores in the US to acceptpaymentsmade with China’s new digital currency, citing national security concerns.
The ‘digital Yuan’ or ‘e-CNY’ is a centralized, cash-like digital currency with a value tied to the physical Yuan. It \was launched by the Chinese government earlier this year as an alternative to decentralized cryptocurrencies.
Consumers are promised the same convenience and anonymity that cryptocurrencies promise but, because it is controlled by a central bank rather than a distributed ledger, authorities still retain control over value and can obtain enough data to tackle illegal activities such as money laundering.
Digital currency
The senators behind the bill fear the system could allow Chinese authorities to spy on Americans,Reuters reported, as they would have access to “real-time visibility into all transactions on the network, posingprivacyand security concerns for American persons who join this network.”
This view is supported by the Center for a New American Security think tank, which believes the digital currency will expand the surveillance capabilities of the Chinese government.
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Chinese government restrictions mean many global digital platforms and services have a limited presence in the country or are absent entirely, including Facebook,Google, and Twitter. This has given rise to domestic platforms such as Alibaba and Sina Weibo, which are hugely popular but relatively unknown outside their homeland.
Several of these apps have confirmed they will support the e-CNY and are offered on theAppleApp Store andGoogle Play, leading to the concerns of some in the senate.
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The Chinese Embassy in Washington told the news agency that the concerns were unfounded.
ViaReuters
Steve McCaskill is TechRadar Pro’s resident mobile industry expert, covering all aspects of the UK and global news, from operators to service providers and everything in between. He is a former editor of Silicon UK and journalist with over a decade’s experience in the technology industry, writing about technology, in particular, telecoms, mobile and sports tech, sports, video games and media.
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