China’s CBDC has been seen to receive a number of positive responses from the populace as the digital yuan (e-CNY) wallet has become one of China’s most popular apps just a week after it was made available to the public.
According to the South China Morning Post, which cited market researchers, its downloads surpassed those of Tencent’s Wechat on Wednesday, a day after its launch, and it became the most popular program on Apple’s iOS. It was the second most downloaded financial app in Xiaomi’s app store by Monday.
The e-CNY app is generally available for download, although it can currently only be utilized in a limited number of locations.
The software’s developer, the People’s Bank of China’s Digital Currency Research Institute, is working with officials in ten pilot cities, including Shanghai, Shenzhen, Xiongan, Chengdu, Suzhou, and Beijing, to distribute digital yuan amounts as part of red envelope campaigns.
According to the publication, the debut of the app is part of an effort to promote the Chinese central bank digital currency (CBDC) ahead of the Lunar New Year, which begins on February 1 and is a traditional period for giving red packets.
The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics will begin on February 4 during the week-long break. Visitors to the capital’s venues will be able to utilize the e-CNY instead of opening a local bank account.
Chinese businesses accept the digital yuan
Other payment apps, such as Alipay and WeChat Pay, which account for 90% of China’s mobile payments industry, accept the digital yuan as well.
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Bank of China, Bank of Communications, Postal Savings Bank of China, and China Merchants Bank all have CBDC applications accessible.
e-CNY payments have seen a “stratospheric growth” in the past week, according to a study by China.org.cn, since the currency became available across Chinese mobile apps.
The digital yuan and its wallet adoption
Following a connection between its app and the e-CNY wallet, Meituan, a local services firm, saw an almost 43% growth in digital yuan-denominated payments, according to the state-run news portal. The value of transactions increased by more than 64% in the week leading up to the debut.
China’s digital yuan is perhaps the most advanced CBDC in the world, far ahead of similar programs in the United States, the European Union, and Russia. In November, a PBOC official reported that the digital money had been utilized in roughly $10 billion in transactions.
Around 140 million Chinese people had opened a digital yuan account as of October. Last year, the Chinese government initiated a broad crackdown on cryptocurrencies and related activities while pushing the e-CNY.
