Over 20 Million Chinese Citizens Are Using Digital Yuan App

It has been almost two weeks since the pilot version of the People’s Bank of China (PBoC)’s digital yuan app was launched on Apple and Android smartphones, and there is a lot of interest in Chinese citizens using this app.

The downloads have been soaring, and it seems that it is not going to stop, having more than 20 million downloads on Chinese mobile devices.

The data was collected by Android mobile providers like Huawei, Xiaomi, OPPO, VIVO, and other mobile providers. On the other hand, the Apple App store hasn’t disclosed the downloads, according to a local report.

Downloading the App Is Limited to Certain Places in China

The use of the app is limited to certain areas across the country, aiming for the biggest cities and tech hubs. It is called “10+1” pilot areas, the “10” refers to the cities Shenzhen, Suzhou, Xiong’an, Chengdu, Shanghai, Hainan, Changsha, Xi’an, Qingdao, and Dalian.

While the “+1” means the areas of Beijing, host of the Winter Olympic Games starting February 4th.

Athletes and spectators can also use hardware wallets of the digital yuan instead of the app. This marks a historic moment in China’s innovation economy, becoming the first country where a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) is used in an Olympic tournament.

The Road of the Digital Yuan So Far

There is no doubt the digital yuan or e-CNY is one of the most experienced CBDCs, a project that began in 2014, according to The Wall Street Journal.

In November of last year, approximately 140 million people in China had digital wallets and almost 62 billion yuans were transacted, equal to ($9.5 billion).

By the end of 2021, a local news media said that more than 300,000 merchants in Shenzhen were using e-CNY, one of the most technological cities in China.

Now that the People’s Bank of China (PBoC)’s digital yuan app is gaining momentum, it could be a future competition for payments apps such as Alipay and WeChat.