63
A pilot version of e-CNY, the mobile wallet for Chinese CBDC, has gone live on iOS and Android app stores in China. Individual users in China can now download a version of the mobile wallet app to try out “personal wallet opening and management” and “e-CNY exchange and circulation services,” according to a tweet from BlockBeats, a local news outlet, which also featured screenshots of the app.
The mobile wallet is available in selected regions.
The developer of the e-CNY app is listed as the People’s Bank of China’s Digital Currency Research Institute, an offshoot of China’s central bank. In order to download the trial app and activate the mobile wallet, users must be physically located in one of 11 locations: Shenzhen, Suzhou, Xiong’an, Chengdu, Shanghai, Hainan, Changsha, Xi’an, Qingdao, Dalian, and the Winter Olympics area. The digital yuan is a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDCs) — a kind of cryptocurrency issued and controlled by the government of a nation-state.
China has seized an early lead in readying a CBDC for public use.
While many countries around the world are still investigating the technology, China has seized an early lead in readying a CBDC for public use. As far back as April 2020, its central bank said the digital yuan could be used during the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022. The claim later caused consternation among United States senators, who said that American participants in the event should not use the currency. More and more countries are now working on a CBDC rollout. As reported earlier, the Bank of Jamaica successfully completed its first central bank digital currency (CBDC), targeting a national rollout in the first quarter of 2022.
