Digital currencies have been viewed differently by individuals and institutions, countries banning and restricting citizens from participating in the crypto space. Cryptocurrency trading and exchanges were shut down in China while banning also initial coin offerings (ICOs) in 2017.

Change is important for growth and the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) has changed its view about digital currencies and has started referring to bitcoin as an “investment alternative”.

The deputy governor of the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), Li Bo, said on Sunday during a panel hosted by CNBC: “We regard Bitcoin and stable coin as crypto assets… these are investment alternatives”.

The comments made by the deputy governor were tagged “progressive” by Flex Yang, CEO, and founder of Babel Finance, while actions about regulatory changes are monitored.

Li Bo said, “Many countries, including China, are still looking into it and thinking about what kind of regulatory requirements. Maybe minimal, but we need to have some kind of regulatory requirement to prevent… the speculation of such assets to create any serious financial stability risks”.

Digital currencies appear to have become more mainstream globally, especially in the financial world and more interest has been gained from institutional investors. China’s native digital currency is currently a work in progress, called Digital Yuan. According to a CNBC report, the currency is not a cryptocurrency and it is different than bitcoin. The aim of the currency is to replace cash and coins in circulation. It will be issued by the People’s Bank of China (PBOC).