This question is quite thought-provoking and interesting.
Modern currency (commonly referred to as 'money'), officially known as 'banknotes', is essentially a type of bond. Simply put, holding 1 yuan means that the People's Bank of China, which issued it, owes you a value equivalent to 1 yuan in purchasing power — this is what is called 'unlimited legal tender', meaning the central bank has an infinite repayment responsibility for the currency it issues.
Since it is a debt, collateral (assets) is required. The process of the central bank issuing currency actually involves simultaneously increasing both assets and liabilities on the balance sheet (referred to as 'expanding the balance sheet'), with the central bank's core asset being national credit. Therefore, countries with strong debt repayment capabilities, such as China, the United States, and Japan, have stable currency values; while some small countries that implement floating exchange rates may experience significant currency depreciation due to weak national credit.
In the modern credit currency system, the asset base for currency issued by the central bank includes relending, foreign exchange reserves, securities, etc. — the amount of valuable assets determines how much currency can be issued. Excess issuance can lead to severe depreciation. However, large countries like China and the United States, due to their strong economic strength, are considered to have extremely strong repayment capabilities, making the impact of excessive currency issuance on currency value relatively controllable; whereas small countries are more likely to experience a collapse of the currency system due to excessive issuance.
Looking at Tencent's Q Coin, it is pegged to the yuan at a 1:1 ratio, which can be seen as a fixed exchange rate anchored to the yuan, and Tencent bears unlimited repayment responsibility for Q Coin with yuan assets. Therefore, the maximum issuance limit for Q Coin depends on Tencent's holdings of yuan reserves (such as cash, government bonds, and other liquid assets). Assuming these assets total 2 billion yuan, Tencent can issue up to 200 million Q Coins.
Some may ask: With Tencent's market value so high, don't they have a lot of assets? Here it is important to note that 3 million in real estate/stocks and 3 million in cash may seem the same to an ordinary person, but they are entirely different in financial operations. Just like someone saying, 'My worth is tens of millions because my house is worth 8 million', this statement is actually inaccurate — a house worth 8 million may not be convertible to 8 million in cash and could actually be worth only 1 million.
This seemingly simple question actually contains two profound points:
What is the essence of modern credit currency;
The relationship between asset prices and securities and cash.