- China’s Digital Currency was used in transactions amounting to almost $10 billion.
- About 140 million people opened eCNY digital wallets.
- 1.55 million merchants accept payments using eCNY wallets.
China has witnessed a surge of digital wallet users as its central bank digital currency (CBDC), the digital yuan, has been used in transactions totaling about 62 billion yuan ($9.7 billion), a People’s Bank of China (PBOC) official has shared.
Mu Changchun, the director-general of the Digital Currency Institute of PBOC, shared this exciting news last Wednesday, at Hong Kong’s Fintech Week conference. In addition, he disclosed that as of October, around 140 million people had downloaded CBDC, the eCNY, digital wallets.
While China has been testing its digital currency across the country, there is still no launch date available for when the eCNY will go nationwide.
Today, 1.55 million merchants can accept payments using eCNY wallets, Mu said in the conference. Users can pay bills ranging from utilities, retail, transportation, retail, and government services.
It’s not just China that’s about to go digital. Central banks around the world are being encouraged to launch their own CBDCs. According to the Atlantic Council’s CBDC tracker, 87 countries are exploring their own CBDC. 7 countries have successfully launched a digital currency. 17 countries are currently in the pilot stage with their CBDCs.
In no time, worldwide central banks will be able to compete with the likes of Bitcoin, for instance.