China’s central bank digital currency [CBDC], the digital yuan, has been under the spotlight for quite a while. The Chinese government’s fast-paced development put the asset on a pedestal. The latest news from the country affirmed that the government has been sprucing up the adoption of the digital yuan.
While several governments speculated that China hastened the development of its CBDC to garner financial dominance, a few others believed that the country was going on a digitalization spree. Nevertheless, cautioned by China’s plunge into CBDCs, an array of governments followed suit as they focused on developing their very own CBDC.
China, however, proved that it was way ahead in the game as it elevated the presence of CBDCs by inducing them into its transport system.
Digital yuan takes the Beijing subway
A recent report revealed that users of the Beijing subway would use their digital yuan to get around. This would mean that the program would allow access to customers through 24 subway lines and four railway stations. While this initiative has already made its debut, it is reportedly limited to those with an Industrial and commercial bank of China bank accounts.
Elaborating on the functions of this program, a customer service representative of the Beijing rail transit network stated,
“You need to download a mobile APP that is linked with your bank account to access to the service.”
Furthermore, Beijing’s digital travel experience isn’t limited to this as the region hopes to induce digital yuan across various sectors.
Once home to the most prominent Bitcoin mining farms in the country, China has given up this title to Kazakhstan. With China taking down several crypto platforms across the country, it seems to be focusing on the advancement of the digital yuan. Earlier in June, about 3,000 ATMs in Beijing were made available for the withdrawal as well as the deposit of the Chinese CBDC.