MI6 warns against use of Chinese digital currency

He also criticised the Chinese government over the illegal use of British data to export secret data from the UK to Bejing and called it a “data trap”…reports Asian Lite News.

Nearly two days after the Chinese artificial intelligence start-up SenseTime was sanctioned by the US, another setback came for the Chinese digital currency Renminbi.

Citing the British Intelligence Agency (MI6), Singapore Post reported that the secret agent warned the people over the use of Chinese digital currency Renminbi just before the winter Olympics. The warning from the UK intelligence came days after the Chinese government announced their planning of promoting the Renminbi as a global currency.

According to MI6– which is tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligence in support of the UK’s national security–, the Chinese government vigorously promoted the currency to keep an eye on users. The intelligence agency red-flagged the use of digital currency and added it might turn out to be a matter of “national threat”. According to MI6, the Chinese Communist government may use the currency “as a tool” before the most “touted” and “controversial” winter Olympics which is scheduled for February next year.

While elaborating the possible threats, Jeremy Fleming, the Director of the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) of the British Intelligence Agency, told Singapore Post that the new digital currencies have a good future and has a good response globally but added the Chinese technological development brought additional threats for the users.

Further, he warned that the new digital currency will export large amounts of British data to China. According to him, the data include work, shopping, social and travel information. It is important to note that this was not the first time when the British secret agency has warned about the ill-intention of the Chinese government behind promoting the digital currency.

In the first week of December this year, the Director of MI6, Richard Moore red-flagged a similar warning for the users. He also criticised the Chinese government over the illegal use of British data to export secret data from the UK to Bejing and called it a “data trap”.

Earlier, three US Republican Senators urged the US Olympic Organizing Committee to ban US athletes from using China’s new digital currency during the Beijing Winter Olympics.

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