According to a spokesperson for China's central bank, the People's Bank of China, the digital currency already has 261 million unique users (PBOC). Furthermore, the digital yuan has been used to make transactions worth 87.5 billion yuan ($13.78 billion), and over 8 million shops now accept it.
The adoption of China's central bank's digital currency is increasing.
At a press conference Tuesday, Zou Lan, head of financial markets at the People's Bank of China (PBOC), provided an update on the country's central bank digital currency (CBDC), the digital yuan.
According to a PBOC official, e-CNY had 261 million unique users at the end of 2021, with transactions totaling 87.5 billion yuan ($13.78 billion). In addition, the digital yuan is now accepted by almost 8 million merchants.
Over the last two years, China's central bank has been actively testing its digital currency, also known as Digital Currency Electronic Payment (DCEP), in several locations. The central bank has started giving away digital yuan to residents through lotteries.
The digital yuan wallet app has become one of China's fastest-growing apps by the number of downloads.
Earlier this month, the app became available in the iOS and Android app stores. However, only users in pilot cities and the upcoming Winter Olympics venues can sign up and spend the digital yuan at one 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.
