QQ

economy - Virtual money threat for Renminbi

The virtual coins, issued by Tencent's QQ, are undermining the real money system, fear authorities, according to this piece in Asia Times. Originally a copy cat of ICQ, QQ have expanded from IM into weblogs and now financial transactions. The company claims to have 220 million accounts (not users like the article says. While some users have up to eight accounts, most have two or three, still making the base of QQ rather impressive.
Both the People's Bank of China, China's central bank, and public prosecutor Yang Tao have expressed their worries.

Tencent argues that Yang and the PBOC are overreacting, and some Internet analysts agree. Nevertheless, there is no question that the virtual-currency trend is catching on in China, and the endgame is unclear.

From purchasing QQ-toys the virtual money has now moved into a black market, says the article:

Now, however, they have reportedly developed into an alternative currency traded on the black market and used for other, less savory services, such as online gambling and private chats with "QQ girls".

Regulations for the virtual money are expected next year.

A QQ-user