<p>The People's Bank of China (PBoC), the country’s central bank, has officially said that it is “still in the process of research and testing” its digital yuan.</p> <p>Announcing the news on Wednesday, the PBoC <a href="http://www.pbc.gov.cn/rmyh/105208/3919880/index.html">said</a> that news reports stating that the central bank has issued its digital currency are “fraudulent.”<br /> <br /> “The People's Bank of China has not issued legal digital currency (DC/EP) and has not authorized any asset trading platform to conduct transactions,” it added.</p> <p>Some news outlets have also issued a timetable for the launch, which is "inaccurate," said the central bank. "The market transactions 'DC/EP' or 'DCEP' are illegally set digital currency, and the legal digital currency issuance time is inaccurate.”<br /> <br /> The PBoC did not provide any details on a launch date or schedule, and said that any launch announcements in the name of the central bank might involve “fraud and pyramid schemes."<br /> <br /> China has been researching and developing its digital currency since 2014 and is “<a href="https://www.theblockcrypto.com/tiny/chinas-central-bank-digital-currency-is-ready-after-5-years-of-development/">almost ready</a>” to launch it, Mu Changchun, head of the digital currency research institute at the PBoC, recently said. Just yesterday, Mu also <a href="https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/46761/chinas-digital-currency-will-provide-required-anonymity-in-transactions-says-official">said</a> that the upcoming digital yuan will not fully control people’s information and will provide them with required anonymity in their transactions.</p>