Communist China is adding another element to its toolbox of surveilling and controlling its population. Already known as the country in the world with the most pervasive surveillance and social credit system, China has now created a digital currency, the digital renminbi or yuan — also known as Digital Currency Electronic Payment (DCEP) — to ensure that hardly any transaction goes unregistered.
Unlike cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, which are not issued by governments and therefore cannot be used as means of payment in most daily transactions, China’s digital currency is issued and controlled by China’s central bank.
