RT.com
18 Jan 2022, 23:47 GMT+10
One-fifth of China's population has already installed the central bank's pilot e-CNY wallets
China's Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) wallet has become one of the country's fastest-growing apps by downloads, attracting millions of users so far, the bank revealed on Tuesday.
According to Zou Lan, the head of financial markets at the People's Bank of China (PBOC), 261 million individual users, which is roughly one-fifth of the entire Chinese population, have installed e-CNY wallets since the app was launched earlier this month. Lan also revealed that a total of 87.5 billion yuan ($13.78 billion) worth of transactions were made using the e-CNY since trials started.
China started developing the concept of a national digital currency in 2014, stepping up the work in the past two years. It has piloted the use of the e-CNY in five major cities so far, including Shanghai and Shenzhen. On January 4, the PBOC launched the e-CNY wallet on the iOS and Android app stores.
However, though the wallet is now available for download across the entire country, only users from the five pilot cities and the upcoming Winter Olympics venue, set to start in the Chinese capital on February 4, can sign up and actually use the digital currency. Also, the e-CNY for now can only be used for a limited number of transactions, like paying for Didi rides or Alibaba purchases.
Unlike decentralized crypto tokens which are banned in China, the e-CNY is effectively a clone of the yuan in the form of a digital asset, controlled and governed by the central bank.
The PBOC intends for the e-CNY to complement rather than replace China's existing payments services, like WeChat Pay and Alipay.
READ MORE: China moves closer to countrywide e-coin rollout
Due to its traceability, the regulator sees the e-CNY as a means to tackle corruption, as it would make large money transfers between provincial and local governments more transparent.
For more stories on economy & finance visit RT's business section
(RT.com)
Get a daily dose of Greek Herald news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Greek Herald.
More InformationGENEVA, Switzerland: A new United Nations report alleges that dozens of global corporations are profiting from and helping sustain...
LONDON/STOCKHOLM: The Persson family is ramping up its investment in the H&M fashion empire, fueling renewed speculation about a potential...
LONDON, U.K.: British oil giant Shell has denied reports that it is in talks to acquire rival oil company BP. The Wall Street Journal...
SYDNEY, Australia: Australia will not ease its strict biosecurity rules during trade talks with the United States, Prime Minister Anthony...
BEIJING, July 5 (Xinhua) -- No dull rows of chairs and tables, no endless slides of charts and numbers -- instead, a gleaming statue...
KHARTOUM, July 5 (Xinhua) -- After more than two years of devastating conflict, Sudan's capital Khartoum is slowly emerging from the...
LONDON, U.K.: An unrelenting heatwave sweeping across Europe has pushed early summer temperatures to historic highs, triggering deadly...
ISTANBUL/PARIS/BRUSSELS: As searing temperatures blanket much of Europe, wildfires are erupting and evacuation orders are being issued...
Birmingham [UK], July 6 (ANI): Indian bowling coach Morne Morkel hailed skipper Shubman Gill after a record-breaking outing at Birmingham,...
New Delhi [India], July 5 (ANI): India's batting mainstay Virat Kohli had unstinting praise in store for Test captain Shubman Gill,...
With Gaza still burning and corruption charges mounting, Israels prime minister arrives in D.C. looking for favors, not peace Fresh...
Abu Dhabi [UAE], July 5 (ANI/WAM): President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan has sent a message of congratulations to President...