Despite kicking out all things crypto from its region, China sprinted towards the development of a CBDC aka central bank-issued digital currency. It got political when several suggested that the Chinese government was using the digital yuan to rob its citizens of financial freedom. Unlike cryptocurrencies, a CBDC was far from being decentralized as the banks as well as governments have a great role to play.
In more recent developments, China rolled out the e-CNY app, a pilot version of the mobile wallet for the digital yuan. Rumors about the government monitoring the finances of its citizens exist. Regardless, the demand for the e-CNY application soared to the moon.
Released for both iOS and Andriod users, e-CNY emerged as the most downloaded app within a week of its launch. The app even topped the Apple store’s download chart just a day post its launch. Xiaomi’s app store also witnessed a similar movement.
China digital yuan out and about for adoption
The e-CNY app made its debut on app stores just last week. This application was made available in selected areas only. This list included 11 regions namely, Changsha, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Xiong’an, Xi’an, Chengdu, Hainan, Qingdao, Suzhou, Dalian, and the Winter Olympics area.
The limited usage of the app did not seem to dent the increased adoption of the platform. The app’s expedition in beating prominent platforms in China like WeChat Pay led to an array of speculations. The community suggested Tencent-owned WeChat Pay could lose its stronghold over the Chinese market.
The e-CNY app’s timing couldn’t have been better as China has been prepping for the Beijing Winter Olympics 2022. However, the lack of privacy over personal transactions could sabotage the usage of the digital yuan.
China has been at the top of its game. From its early interest in CBDCs to being at the forefront of it all, China was playing its cards right. Therefore, the community laid out conjectures that the country could soon be dominating the monetary world.