比特币与法定数字货币

The emergence and circulation of Bitcoin, an open cryptocurrency, indicates that the Internet characterized by information generation and mobility is entering a new era of Internet of values, featured with value generation and transfer. This paper first surveys the development and architecture of Bitcoin, discusses the technical advantages in point-to-point payment achieving public verifiability and safe transaction based on modern cryptographic technologies in the absence of trust, mediation and centralized authority, and explores the impact of Bitcoin on fiat currencies. By analyzing the research and application of Bitcoin, this paper identifies its deficiencies of resource waste, poor scalability, low throughput, long transaction latency, unresolved security, privacy leakage risk, tool for extortion and money laundering free from governmental audit and supervision and so on. Finally, oriented by digital fiat currency, by incorporating the advantages of Bitcoin like cryptocurrencies and innovating the modern cryptography theory and technology, this paper discusses the technical challenges in developing digital fiat currency, consisting of reconciling the convenience demand and the safety requirement, balancing between the privacy protection, financial intelligence confidentiality needs, and audit, supervision, forensics of monetary crimes, so as to ensure the effective operation and transmission of the monetary policies, and the statutory control of monetary sovereignty.