To crowd out the cryptos, hand out the central bank digital currency (CBDC). To that end, China is ramping up pilots of its soon-to-be-widely deployed digital yuan to include lotteries. It’s a novel approach to getting digital yuan into the hands of a widening audience, almost surely at cryptos’ expense.
As reported, per an announcement by the Beijing Local Financial Supervision and Administration Bureau, China’s lottery is worth about $6.2 million. In terms of mechanics, residents in Beijing can apply early next week to join the lottery. The lottery will feature 200,000 prizes that are worth about 200 digital yuan, which can then be used to transact with several retailers.
The lottery comes after other trials in the country, where, for instance, Chengdu residents, back in February, were given roughly $6 million in digital yuan to spend. The central bank also piloted CBDCs across several cities, including Shenzhen, Suzhou and Hangzhou.
China has plunged into the global race to launch CBDCs, conducting tests in such major cities as Shenzhen, Suzhou and Hangzhou. The move comes as payment services have replaced cash in many of China’s consumer transactions.
Read more: https://www.pymnts.com/cryptocurrency/2021/china-lottery-shows-increased-focus-on-cbdc-for-retail/
