New Use Cases and Smart Contract Capability Are Added to China’s Digital Yuan
In recent days, new use cases for China’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) have emerged, including the purchase of assets and offline payments.
The digital yuan (eCNY), the central bank’s digital currency, has undergone updates that give it smart contract functionality and several recently disclosed use cases.
According to a Jan. 17 report by regional bitcoin media site 8btc, the Meituan app, a Chinese app that offers retail and food delivery services, has started using smart contracts.
When a Meituan user puts an order and uses their e-CNY wallet to make a payment, a smart contract is triggered. The things they have ordered are then searched for using keywords. If a user makes a purchase from the list of the day’s keywords, they are entered into a drawing to win a piece of a prize.
A portion of a “red envelope,” or hongbao in Chinese parlance, containing 8,888 yuan, or just over $1,300, is the reward.
Small packets called “hongbao” are customarily used to give money as a sign of good fortune during the Chinese New Year.
A feature allowing users to send virtual red envelopes was added to the e-CNY wallet app in December to increase usage before the Chinese New Year on January 22.
Digital yuan has new applications.
New applications for the e-CNY have been added recently in addition to the most recent development.
According to a China Securities Journal article from January 16, e-CNY was first utilized to purchase securities. Additionally, investors can use the CBDC to purchase stocks through the Soochow Securities mobile app.
According to a recent Yicai Global report, users of the digital yuan wallet app now can utilize their Android phones to make contactless payments even when their device is not connected to the internet or has electricity.
The development of new applications for the digital yuan comes as China struggles to increase CBDC use.
The CBDC was shown to make up about 0.13% of the 10.47 trillion yuan ($1.54 trillion) in circulation at the end of 2022 after the PBOC for the first time included e-CNY in currency circulation data on January 10.