2022 is the year of the Winter Olympics and next year it will be held in Beijing. Beijing has announced it will undertake the largest pilot project of its Peoples Bank of China developed digital currency and enable international travellers to utilise the digital currency.
It will be China's largest pilot project since being rolled out and with only 10 million active participants the digital currency is still under utilised. Read more here
China recently released a white paper that provided a road map and what China plans to achieve. Recently China stated that it had no intention on challenging bitcoin yet in the official white paper the ability to deploy smart contracts is a core feature of the digital currency. You can read more Here
However, the ability to deploy smart contracts against the digital Yuan has put it at odds with some leading government officials who see it as a way that could potentially undermine the value of the currency if it focuses on social and emotional contracts.
However, a smart contracts in Chengdu a trial city saw the development of a public transport use system. Users can use their digital wallets as transport tickets. You can get a copy of the white paper Here
At current there are 3.5 million retailers in China that are accepting the digital Yuan establishing wallets amounting to a total of $US3.5 Billion traded so far.
Not Private
Privacy issues have emerged as it has been released that a high level of tracking and tracing is taking place with each dollar accounted for. China is hopeful it can even prevent money being spent on items it deems not intended for use. An over reach into the personal lives of people and the way they spend their money.
The United States has issued a firm letter to its Beijing Winter Olympics teams urging Olympians not to engage with the digital Yuan as their movements and spending habits will be surveillanced.
Three US senators have written to the committee requesting that the digital Yuan be banned from use as it is government surveillance at an unprecedented level and is of significant concern to the US senators.
You can read more Here as well as the source for the screen grab of the official letter.
China continues to insist that it is not attempting to displace the US dollar and that the digital Yuan sole purpose is for China's use and to digitalised their money. However, sources have identified that China is in the process of talks with other nations to also accept the digital Yuan.
China and the United States have been in a digital currency race for some time with China leading at current first going into development in 2014.
As the US still is at a turning point in relation to digital currencies it is unknown if it will choose to develop its own or enable the use of current private run stable coins.
This comes as the SEC Commissioner Hester pierce continues to voice concerns and push against barriers to ETF and is attempted to forcefully enact change. No doubt this is due to China's current position in the market and the US wanting to enter but road blocks preventing the US from trading are wearing thin on elected officials. You can read more Here
This comes as Canada too sees CBDC's as necessary to combat monopolies and increase competition.
A research paper released by Canada's Central bank identifies the many possibilities unlocked by CBDS. You can read more Here
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