Former Governor of the People's Bank of China: We can explore cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology, the key is to adapt to user experience

Zhou Xiaochuan, former governor of the People's Bank of China, stated yesterday at the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2026 that a good payment system is not a champion of a single technology or performance. Just like instant payment is not necessarily good, the most important thing is "adaptation." He pointed out that regulation needs to combat money laundering and prevent drug trafficking, cross-border gambling, telecom fraud, etc. Several central bank governors mentioned at the forum that digital currencies are now used in payment systems, but fraud also uses digital currencies, and "it is quite severe." Zhou Xiaochuan believes that the ability to combat fraud still needs to be continuously improved.

When discussing the topic of regulatory adaptation, Zhou Xiaochuan mentioned stablecoins again. He said that now, as soon as the proceeds from telecom fraud arrive, they are immediately split into hundreds or thousands of accounts to evade compliance checks, which means it is quite difficult to recover losses afterward. "Stablecoins fundamentally bypass compliance checks; everyone needs to think clearly and not follow the trend." Zhou Xiaochuan also emphasized that cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology can be explored, but it does not mean that "peer-to-peer" and "decentralization" are all positive. One cannot hastily conclude that using correspondent banks and SWIFT messages in the original backend systems is outdated; the key is to adapt to the user's experience.