China’s central bank digital currency now has 261 million unique users, according to an official of the central bank, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC). Furthermore, transactions worth 87.5 billion yuan ($13.78 billion) have been made using the digital yuan and more than 8 million merchants now accept e-CNY.
Growing adoption of China’s central bank digital currency
Zou Lan, head of financial markets at the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), gave an update on the country’s central bank digital currency (CBDC), the digital yuan, at a press conference on Tuesday.
According to the PBOC official, e-CNY had 261 million unique users at the end of 2021, and transactions worth 87.5 billion yuan ($13.78 billion) have been made using the Chinese central bank digital currency. In addition, more than 8 million merchants now accept the digital yuan.
China’s central bank has been actively testing its digital currency, also known as Digital Currency Electronic Payment (DCEP), in various cities over the past two years. The central bank distributed digital yuan through lotteries to residents.
The digital yuan wallet app has become one of China’s fastest-growing apps by the number of downloads.
The app became available on iOS and Android app stores earlier this month. However, only users in pilot cities and upcoming Winter Olympics venues can register and spend the digital yuan at any of the 8 million stores that accept e-CNY.
The trial regions for the digital yuan include Shenzhen, Suzhou, Xiongan, Chengdu, Shanghai, Hainan, Changsha, Xian, Qingdao, Dalian, and venues of this year’s Winter Olympics, hosted by Beijing.
