China has hinted that its treatment of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC) may change again as information technology looks to reform its forex markets.

As Reuters reported on Dec. 24 citing a senior authorities official, a new research initiative volition accompany the expansion of Beijing'south blockchain cross-edge financing pilot platform.

China looks to command a new situation in forex

The platform, launched in March this year, is currently running as a airplane pilot scheme in 19 provinces.

"We volition gradually expand the scope of the pilot and the awarding scenarios of blockchain technology in cross-border financing and macro prudential management," said Lu Lei, deputy caput of the State Assistants of Foreign Exchange. Lu added:

"At the same time, (the government) will button forrad a prospective written report on foreign exchange reforms to bargain with cryptocurrency and explore the structure of the foreign commutation regulation and technology arrangement under the new state of affairs."

Blockchain-not-Bitcoin remains

The comments are conspicuous, coming as People's republic of china prepares to launch its key bank digital currency, which the central bank stressed will not have the characteristics of Bitcoin.

"The currency is not for speculation. It is different to bitcoin or stable tokens, which can be used for speculation or require the support of a basket of currencies," Mu Changchun, deputy director of the People's Bank of China, or PBoC, commented on Dec. 22.

Activities, notably substitution, involving not-state controlled cryptocurrencies remain all but banned under a policy enacted in September 2022.

Lu did not explicitly country how the results of the new reforms would affect the condition quo.

On blockchain, meanwhile, authorities remain committed to the propagation and expansion of use cases, among the most recent of which is using the technology for bond issuance.