TL;DR Breakdown
- Next phase of CBDC testing is in Sichuan.
- Series of airdrop for Sichuan residents.
China have begun talks once again about advancing the launch of its long-anticipated Digital Yuan as it is set to progress to the next stage.
Local reports in China suggest that Sichuan’s capital Chengdu will be the next place where the Digital Yuan’s efficiency would be tested.
This follows a similar test in Shenzhen and Suzhou. However, the government will supply citizens with 30 million digital yuan, equivalent to $4.6 million during the test.
Residents in the province who can test the virtual money would be selected through a lottery as the registration would begin Wednesday, the 27th of January.
Sichuan residents would need to sign-up through the “Tianfu Citizen Cloud” app. Afterward, they choose a bank and open the wallet. A Chinese phone number and a generation ID Card are required to sign-up on the app. Also, the location of users who will be registered has to be in the Chengdu administrative area.
Although it’s still unclear how many would benefit from the CBDC lottery, they will be able to spend their free digital money at local merchants from the 4th to the 26th of February. This timeframe coincides with the Lunar New Year festival celebrated in China.
Reportedly, Suzhou also would have another round of testing the Digital Yuan where 40 million digital yuan, worth $6.1 million, would be airdropped.
Digital Yuan test for everyday life
After the currency was developed, the currency test has gone on without any hitches or setbacks. The essence of the test is slowly being achieved, which is for the cryptocurrency to be slowly integrated into the Chinese everyday life.
With the test set to begin in Sichuan, Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com will reportedly airdrop 20 million digital yuan, worth $3.1 million. It could be spent on online shopping.
