Former Governor of the People's Bank of China Zhou Xiaochuan: The key to payment systems is adaptability, and stablecoins bypassing compliance reviews should be approached with caution.

Gate News reported that on March 27, former governor of the People’s Bank of China Zhou Xiaochuan attended the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2026 yesterday (March 26) and stated that a good payment system is not a champion of a single technology or performance. Just like instant payments are not necessarily good, the most important factor is “adaptation.” He pointed out that regulation must combat money laundering and prevent drug trafficking, cross-border gambling, telecom fraud, and more. Several central bank governors mentioned at the forum that digital currencies are now used in payment systems, but fraud also utilizes digital currencies and is “being used quite effectively.” Zhou Xiaochuan believes that the capabilities to combat fraud still need continuous improvement. When discussing regulatory adaptation, Zhou Xiaochuan again mentioned stablecoins, stating that the proceeds from telecom fraud are immediately split into hundreds or thousands of accounts to evade compliance checks, which makes it difficult to recover losses afterward. “Stablecoins fundamentally bypass compliance checks; everyone needs to think for themselves 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 “decentralized” are necessarily positive, nor can we hastily assume that the use of correspondent banks and SWIFT messages in the original backend systems is outdated. The key is to adapt to user experiences.