(Baidu) China has started testing its central bank digital currency at the 2022 winter Olympics, moving ahead of its global peers.
The digital yuan or eCNY is being offered to athletes and foreign visitors at the Olympic Village in Beijing.
The digital version of the Chinese currency links the user’s phone number to transactions on an application and can also facilitate transfers between individuals by tapping the phones.
eCNY can also be exchanged through bar codes or QR without the presence of banks or intermediaries.
The rollout of the digital yuan happens when other global central banks are in the research and development stage, with the country having launched CBDCs exploration in 2019. The government hinted at plans to develop a digital yuan before this year’s Olympics in early 2020.
The rollout could now raise eyebrows to Chinese rivals who see it as a financial weapon, with the US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen already having warned that a digital yuan could help Beijing subvert sanctions, facilitate money laundering, and be used for surveillance activities.
USDCNY is up +0.12%.
