Launch of China Coin Could Come as Soon as November 11

China Coin will try to beat Facebook’s Libra to the market. Chinese financial experts believe that Libra would have such an impact on the economy that they are pushing their government to beat the rival cryptocurrency to the market.

The “crypto space race” kicked off in July when multiple outlets reported that China was considering its own coin. At the time, speculators believed that China was rushing to counter Facebook. At the time, the head of research at the Peoples Bank of China questioned the role of Libra in the global financial system. Wang Xin wondered “would [Libra] … accordingly have a large influence on monetary policy, financial stability and the international monetary system?”

Months later, China accelerated its plans. The nation appointed Mu Changchun to replace Yao Qian as the head of the People’s Bank of China’s research arm. The South China Morning Post suggested that Libra’s launch would only bolster the U.S. dollar and negatively impact China’s goals for the Yuan. Now, various outlets are suggesting that the PBoC could launch China Coin as soon as November 11. That date is the day that China’s popular shopping event Singles’ Day occurs. Some have speculated that the central bank will give the coin to several of its e-commerce giants like Alibaba and Tencent to help bolster their global influence.

Plenty of Opposition to Libra

Regulators around the globe remain skeptical about China Coin and Libra.

Meanwhile, members of the Libra Association have become increasingly guarded about their involvement. As we noted last week, both Visa and Mastercard have reportedly had second thoughts about the project. Increased regulatory scrutiny has fueled this skepticism.

In addition, PayPal went completely AWOL on the project. The online-money transfer company is reportedly unsatisfied with the Libra project and David Marcus’ efforts to address issues money laundering.