The Legal Predicament and System Construction of Modern Central Bank Digital Currency

——Based on an Empirical Analysis of 2147 Judgments

（Law School，Tongji University，Shanghai 200092，China） Abstract：After the subprime crisis，blockchain technology rapidly emerged and deeply involved in the monetary and financial industry，which promoted the development of non-legal digital currencies，and brought significant impact on the legal monetary system of sovereign countries. To maintain the sovereignty and competitive advantage of legal currency ，developing central bank digital currency and constructing the legal system of modern central bank digital currency is of great significance. By adopting normative analysis，the author explores the basic connotation and key characteristics of central bank digital currency. It is found that：the central bank digital currency is the digital currency issued by the central bank ，guaranteed by government credit，operated by designated institutions and sold to the public；and it has the characteristics of legal compensation， equivalence，and controllable anonymity. Taking“digital currency”as the key word，2147 legal judgments can be searched out from China Judgments Online. Based on this，the author carries out the empirical analysis，it is found that the main legal dilemmas of China's central bank digital currency include the monetary legal compensation dilemma at the economic law level， the monetary ownership transfer dilemma at the civil law level， and the monetary and financial crimes (mainly currency counterfeiting and money laundering crimes) at the criminal law level. Through comparative analysis of the experience of central bank digital currency developed in different economies，it is found that：developing economies are generally more active in the development of central bank digital currency，but they often end up failing due to insufficient preparing in terms of R&D and the lack of perfect rule of law；while developed economies are generally more conservative in the development of central bank digital currency，adhering to the principle of prudent development and rule of law，and choosing a feasible path that suits their development，but they need to be alert to the legal status and legal compensation dilemma of central bank digital currency. To build a modern legal system of central bank digital currency with Chinese characteristics ，we should，first，determine the unlimited legal compensation of central bank digital currency from the perspective of economic law ，that is，clarify the legal compensation of central bank digital currency through legislation，and establish special regulations for the“transitional period”； second，we should improve the civil law to clarify the effective elements of currency ownership transfer ，that is，apply the principle of“possession is ownership”；and third，we should establish and improve the financial criminal rule of the central bank digital currency，that is，gradually improve the mechanism of central bank digital currency to prevent counterfeit currency ，and build the anti-money laundering criminal system of the central bank digital currency.

Key words：blockchain technology；central bank digital currency；digital rule of law；empirical analysis；international ex⁃

perience