China Pushes CBDC Mass Adoption During Holidays

In an effort to increase adoption, China’s central bank digital currency (CBDC), commonly referred to as the digital yuan, was promoted during the Lunar New Year.

According to a report by the Global Times, Chinese cities announced digital yuan initiatives totalling more than $26.6 million. These initiatives included subsidies, consumption coupons, and other efforts during the Lunar New Year holiday season.

200 CBDC Events Launched

Two hundred digital yuan events were reportedly launched across China. The report highlighted that the cities of Jinan in the Shandong Province of East China and Lianyungang in Jiangsu Province distributed digital yuan coupons over the holiday period. In addition, Shenzhen in Guangdong Province in South China issued 100 million yuan in digital currency to aid the catering sector.

These promotions aim to encourage the mass adoption of a centralized digital currency through everyday use. BeInCrypto reported last month that the country is expanding its pilot program throughout more provinces. At the People’s Bank of China’s 2023 Working Conference, the apex bank announced that the CBDC trial was “running steadily.”

Private Crypto Remains Outlawed

According to Huang Yiping, a former monetary policy committee member at the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), the possibility of allowing private institutions to issue digital yuan-backed stablecoins remains a “very sensitive” issue. Nevertheless, the official believes weighing the advantages and disadvantages is important amid a private crypto ban.

In an ongoing effort to become carbon neutral by 2060, the Chinese government outlawed cryptocurrency mining in September 2021. The prohibition also impacted the coal mining and disposable plastic cutlery businesses.

Meanwhile, the CBDC has been introduced in 17 provinces in China.

There has historically been a range of responses from the cryptocurrency market following the end of the Chinese New Year. This time, according to an analysis by BeInCrypto, both Chinese stocks and cryptocurrencies saw a decline in performance after the Lunar New Year holiday.

At the time of press, the global cryptocurrency market cap is sitting slightly above $1.1 trillion. Bitcoin is trading in the 24-hour range of $22,648 and $23,404 on CoinGecko.