评论
打印
By some accounts ancient China is the birthplace of currency.
有说法称古代中国是货币的发源地。
Around 770 BCE people there started exchanging coins for goods and services,
大约公元前770年，那里的人就已经开始用硬币兑换商品和服务了，
though rather than the familiar round minted shape we're used to today,
只不过，那时候的“硬币”不是我们今天所熟悉的圆形，
these "coins" were cast in the shape of shells, or miniatures of common tools like spades or knives.
而是被铸造成了贝壳或是铁锹或刀具等日常工具的形状。
So, it might be fitting that the first country that could abandon physical money in favor of digital legal tender is China again.
这样看来，说中国也将成为第一个从实体货币转向数字货币合法化的国家兴许也不为过。
How will it work, what are the pros and cons,
那么，法定数字货币要怎么运作呢？有何利弊？
how is it different from cryptocurrency, and what does this mean for the rest of the cash-using world?
数字货币与加密货币的区别在哪里？中国将数字货币合法化对其他使用现金的国家意味着什么？
Part of the reason China has taken the lead creating a state-backed digital currency
中国率先推出由国家支持的数字货币的部分原因在于
is because they initially lacked the credit-card based payment infrastructure of other countries, like the U.S.
他们本来就没有其他国家，比如美国这种以信用卡为基础的支付系统。
So, tech companies like Tencent and Alibaba developed apps that let people exchange money digitally with their phones.
腾讯和阿里巴巴等科技公司已经开发了一些手机支付应用，人们可以直接用手机完成数字交易。
The apps have proven extremely successful, with hundreds of millions of Chinese citizens using them regularly.
事实表明，这些应用非常成功，目前有好几亿的中国人日常都会用到这种支付方式。
Six years ago, China's central bank saw the upsides of developing their own digital yuan.
六年前，中国的央行就已经看到了发展自己的数字人民币的好处。
As of April 2020, the program is being taken for a test run in four Chinese cities.
截至2020年4月，该项目已经开始在四个城市试运行了。
The details on how the currency actually works aren't very well known, but a few things are clear.
至于这一新型货币效果究竟如何，我们还没有了解到太多细节，但有几个问题是很清楚的。
The digital yuan is tied to the value of the normal, physical yuan.
数字人民币和原来的实物人民币的价值是挂钩的
Since it's state backed, that means the government is liable for it and it should be stable,
因为数字人民币有国家支持，换句话说，中国政府对它是负有责任的，
compared to cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, where the value can swing wildly.
跟价值可能大幅波动的比特币等加密货币相比，它应该具备良好的稳定性。
And because it's backed by the state, that means it'll be more widely accepted.
因为得到了国家的支持，那它未来的接受度就会很广。
Already, nineteen companies including McDonald's and Subway are participating in the trial.
目前已经有19家公司，麦当劳和赛百味就是其中两家，参与这项试验。
A major roadblock to the adoption of cryptocurrencies has been their lack of government recognition and widespread acceptance.
加密货币推广路上的一个主要的障碍就是没有得到政府的承认和民众的广泛接受。
But cryptocurrencies do have some benefits that China's officially sanctioned ebucks lack, especially when it comes to privacy.
不过，比特币也有被中国官方制裁的 所没有的一些优势，尤其是隐私方面。
A huge appeal of bitcoin and others like it is the blockchain,
比特币和类似比特币的其他数字货币有一个巨大的吸引力——区块链，
an encrypted and decentralized ledger tracking where the money goes.
一个能够追踪钱的去向的，加密的、分散的分类账。
While the blockchain is public, anybody using it can remain anonymous.
虽然区块链是公开的，但使用区块链的人都可以保持匿名身份。
But if China's central bank develops and distributes the currency,
但如果中国的中央银行真的发行了数字人民币的话，
then they can see exactly who is involved in every transaction.
他们是可以确切地看到谁参与了每笔交易的。
All of these advantages and disadvantages to each approach have left the future of digital currency up in the air,
由于这些数字货币都各有优缺点，数字货币的未来恐怕一时半会儿也说不好，
and it's anybody's guess what'll happen next.
接下来会发生什么大家也都说不清楚。
Will the digital yuan spread globally because of its convenience and stability,
究竟是数字人民币因为它的便捷性和稳定性普及到全世界呢？
or will the rest of the world opt out of handing their financial data over to China?
还是世界其他国家会选择不把他们的金融数据交给中国呢？
Will the U.S. government attempt to digitize their own dollar?
美国政府是否会尝试把美元也数字化呢？
Nobody really knows the answer to any of these questions yet,
这些问题目前谁也没有答案，
but fortunes will be won and lost as we find out.
不过，无论结局如何，我们都会有得也有失。
I'm no financial guru but I will make this prediction:
我不是金融大咖，但我还是要做这样的预测：
while a digital currency seems all but inevitable,
虽然数字货币看起来几乎已经是不可避免的趋势了，
not everyone will have access to the technology to use it,
但也不是所有人都有机会接触到有关的技术，
and others will still prefer old-fashioned physical money.
其他人还是会偏向于使用老式的实物货币。
Even if digital currency becomes widespread soon, cold hard cash isn't going to vanish.
就算数字货币很快就普及开了，实打实的现金也不会消失。
At least, not right away.
至少不会马上消失。
If you're curious about encryption, check out this video I did on prime numbers.
如果你对货币加密感兴趣，那你不妨看看我用质数做的这段视频。
So what would it take for you to use a digital currency?
那么，你在什么样的条件下会接受使用数字货币呢？
Let us know in the comments below and make sure to subscribe.
快来视频下方的评论区告诉我们吧，记得订阅喔。
Thanks for watching and I'll see you next time.
感谢大家的收看，我们下期节目再见。
