China’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) continues to gain further ground as the Beijing Local Financial Supervision and Administration Bureau revealed 40 million worth of the country’s digital yuan ($6.3 million) will be distributed to Chinese citizens.
Beijing and China’s Central Bank Launches Digital Yuan Lottery
The People’s Bank of China (PBoC) and Beijing Local Financial Supervision and Administration Bureau have announced a new digital yuan test for local residents. Bitcoin.com News has reported on China’s last CBDC red envelope test in the past, as the central bank has dispersed millions in digital yuan for testing.
Now Beijing plans to disperse $6.3 million worth of the CBDC to citizens by giving out 200,000 digital red envelopes with 200 digital yuan each. As usual, residents can spend the digital yuan at merchants that accept the CBDC like the popular marketplace Jd.com. Residents who want to get some of the red envelopes must enter a lottery system via the Bank of China or Commercial Bank of China’s mobile applications.
News of the digital yuan launch getting closer and closer continues as a myriad of firms such as Tencent, Alibaba, Ant, Mastercard, and Jd.com have been testing China’s CBDC. The deadline for citizens to register for China’s latest red envelope testing is June 7.
However, despite the number of major companies helping and the last red envelope distribution, a recent report notes residents in Shenzhen are concerned about privacy. Moreover, because of the surveillance concerns, Shenzhen citizens are showing little interest in the CBDC.
China’s digital yuan smart card will reportedly feature biometrics and fingerprint scanning. The PBoC plans to also disperse the digital yuan at the 2022 Winter Olympics. Besides Beijing and Shenzhen, the PBoC-developed digital yuan has also been tested in Changsha, Suzhou, and Chengdu.
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