But if they're having the centralised authority anyway, can't they just allow anonymous accounts to transact through a more traditional secure electronic payments system provided by that central clearing house, without the resource consumption overheads and limits on concurrent transactions associated with blockchains?
I can't see true anonymity being a goal of a system introduced by governments either, though I can see why they wouldn't want an electronic payments system to rely on financial intermediaries in an economy where many people don't use banks.
A public blockchain, even if it is just readable by citizens if far more difficult to manipulate.
> without the resource consumption overheads and limits on concurrent transactions associated with blockchains?
I'm not sure what this is about, do you have a source? Volume of transactions should be easily large enough to satisfy their currency - all that's needed is some hashing.
I can't see true anonymity being a goal of a system introduced by governments either, though I can see why they wouldn't want an electronic payments system to rely on financial intermediaries in an economy where many people don't use banks.