China Poised to Dominate Digital Currency, Electronic Payments - Bloomberg
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Greetings from the People’s Bank of China.
Source: Bloomberg
Last year, the People’s Bank of China seized the opportunity presented by the pandemic to rush its central bank digital currency into the hands of Chinese consumers, conducting trials in three cities — Shenzhen, Suzhou and Chengdu — as well as the Xiong’an New Area near Beijing. Crucially, its design is two-tier, with the PBOC dealing with the existing state-owned commercial banks and other entities (including telecom and tech companies), not directly with households and firms. The abbreviation “DC/EP” (with the slash) captures this dual structure. The central bank controls the digital currency, but the electronic payment platforms can participate in the system, alongside the banks, as intermediaries to consumers and businesses. However, the easiest option for consumers will clearly be to withdraw “e-CNY” from bank ATM machines onto their smartphones’ e-wallets. The system even allows transactions to happen in the absence of an internet connection via “dual offline technology.” In 2018, I predicted there would soon be “bityuan.” I only got the name wrong.
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