In recent months, new use cases have emerged for the Chinese CBDC, the digital Yuan. Some of these uses include offline payments and buying of securities.
According to reports, China’s CBDC (the e-CNY or digital Yuan) now has several upgrades, allowing it to offer smart contract functions and other unknown use cases.
Digital Yuan Receives Smart Contract Functionality
Earlier this week, a China-based crypto outlet, 8btc, announced that a smart contract feature is currently on the Meituan app. The Meituan application offers food delivery and retail services to users.
When a user of the Meituan app makes an order and pays using the digital wallet, the smart contract will search for specific keywords in their order and list of purchased items. Users who buy an item that appears on the keywords for the day will take part in a draw and stand a chance to win a prize.
Meanwhile, the prize is a portion of a “red envelope” or hongbao, valued at 8,888 Yuan (approximately $1,300). This gift is traditionally given as a lucky symbol and used to gift money during the Chinese New Year.
For increased usage before the Chinese New Year, the e-CNY wallet app introduced a new feature in December. This feature will allow users to send digital red envelopes to their friends and loved ones.
Apart from the recent development, the government has added new use cases for the digital Yuan. However, they are not yet open to the public.
China’s CBDC Records Slow Adoption Despite More Uses Cases
Recently, the China Securities Journal reported that individuals had used the e-CNY to purchase securities, the first of its kind. In addition, investors can use the e-CNY to purchase securities through Soochow Securities’ mobile application. Soochow Securities is a brokerage firm in China.
Another report by Yicai Global revealed that the digital Yuan wallet received a major update. This update allows Android phone users to conduct contactless payments even if the device is not connected to the internet or has no power.
The newly-added use cases come when China’s CBDC is struggling with adoption. A former executive from the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) recently acknowledged the lackluster performance of the digital Yuan, stating that usage has been low and the results thus far have not been satisfactory.
Meanwhile, the PBoC had earlier published its currency circulation report, including e-CNY. It is the first time the bank has added the e-CNY to its report. According to the report, the digital Yuan accounted for 0.13% (13.61 billion e-CNY) of the total 10.47 trillion Yuan in circulation last year.
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