China’s Shenzhen will issue 10 million digital yuan as the PBoC ramps up the pilot program.

The People’s Bank of China earlier revealed that the 3.13 million transactions had been processed using the nation’s sovereign digital currency DCEP as part of a series of ongoing pilot programs in major cities such as Shenzhen and Xiongan. According to local news reports, Shenzhen will issue 10 million yuan (about 1.47 million U.S. dollars) worth of digital currency in a pilot program to promote the application of the new form of currency. The use of cryptocurrency will also allow innovative startup stories. 

The city will issue digital currency via a random draw.

In collaboration with the country’s central bank, The People’s Bank of China, the program will issue the currency in 50,000 “red envelopes” worth 200 yuan each via a random draw. The city’s residents can apply to participate in the draw starting Friday. The winners will be notified on October 12 and can download an app to receive their red envelopes. The national digital currency can be used for shopping in designated businesses in Shenzhen’s district of Luohu, which funded the program. According to the central bank’s deputy governor, Fan Yifei, the currency has been used for more than 1.1 billion yuan ($162 million) worth of transactions. 

Central banks across countries experiment with CBDCs. 

As reported earlier, the central bank of Japan had revealed that it would start experimenting with a central bank-backed digital currency starting next year. Central banks in most countries have expressed interest in CBDCs, and many of them are working actively on the same. The People’s Bank of China is all set to become the first major nation to launch its national digital currency. PBoC has been working on its national digital currency, dubbed DCEP, for the last five to six years and is now very close to issuing it to the general public.