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Banks around the world are flocking to Chinese digital yuan pilot programs and testing the central bank digital currency (CBDC) wallets that it uses.
According to a report by Digital Currency News, more than 60 banks in China have now signed up to offer digital yuan wallets to their customers. This is a significant jump from the 16 banks that had signed up for the pilot program at the end of March.
The Digital Currency Research Institute of the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) has been actively promoting the digital yuan pilot programs throughout the country. The central bank has also been encouraging banks and other financial institutions to participate in the program, with a target of at least 100 banks having wallets available by the end of 2021.
The digital yuan wallets are being tested in many cities around China, with the pilot program being trialed in Shenzhen, Suzhou, Xiongan, Chengdu, and now in Beijing. It is expected that the digital yuan will eventually be available nationwide later this year.
The banks that have signed up to offer digital yuan wallets are mostly smaller banks, as well as agricultural and rural lenders and financial technology companies. These banks include Bank of China, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Merchants Bank, WeBank, and China Minsheng Investment Group.
The PBOC is also setting up a digital currency research institute, which will be tasked with further researching the digital yuan and its potential applications, as well as the technology behind it. This institute will include experts from many major tech firms, including IBM, Huawei, and Tencent.
The digital yuan pilot programs have proven to be successful so far, as the trials have shown that the CBDC is safe, secure, and can be used quickly and easily. For now, the digital yuan is meant to be used as a domestic currency, but the PBOC has stated that it is exploring the possibility of using the digital yuan for international payments. This could potentially lead to the digital yuan becoming the world’s first and only global central bank digital currency.