Preparations for using the pilot digital RMB are ramping up, with the winter Olympics in Beijing starting two weeks today. The central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot will be in action at the games for both local citizens and visitors. In a recent event, the central bank shared the latest statistics showing the number of personal wallets has increased 84% during the two months ending December 31 2021.
There’s a question mark about how many foreigners will use the digital yuan. Several countries recommend that visitors leave their phones at home over fears of electronic snooping in China. They include the U.S., UK, Netherlands, Australia and Canada. Some Olympic committees are issuing burner phones to athletes. Even if people don’t want to use a phone, the digital currency is also available on prepaid debit cards.
Regarding the latest transaction figures, while digital RMB wallets have increased by 84% to 261 million, the total value of transactions rose to 87.565 billion yuan ($13.8 billion), a much slower growth of 41%. This implies that either the transaction values have declined, or there’s inactivity from a large number of wallets created as a result of free digital yuan giveaways.
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