China CBDC pilot live in select regions, app available on iOS, Android

China’s answer to the cryptocurrency challenge appears to be taking shape given its much-expected launch in 2022. The e-CNY central bank digital currency is set for the next challenge after this recent news went live.

Pilot test underway

A prototype, rather a pilot model of e-CNY mobile wallet for China’s digital yuan, has gone live. The application will be available on iOS and Android app stores in China. This feature will act as the official service platform of China’s CBDC for individual users.

Individual users in China can download a version of the app to try out “personal wallet opening and management. As well as “e-CNY exchange and circulation services.”

A  local news outlet, BlockBeats tweeted the same to alert users.

The e-CNY app is now available on iOS and Android app stores.

This App is the official service platform of China’s CBDC for individual users to carry out pilot trials, providing e-CNY personal wallet opening and management, e-CNY exchange and circulation services.#CBDC pic.twitter.com/c8S1newxiw

— BlockBeats (@BlockBeatsChina) January 4, 2022

To download the trial app and activate the wallet, users must be physically located in one of 11 locations: Shenzhen, Suzhou, Xiong’an, Chengdu, Shanghai, Hainan, Changsha, Xi’an, Qingdao, Dalian and the Winter Olympics area.

The digital yuan marks significant achievements in the CBDC sector. Indeed a sector that many governments across the globe want to incorporate, within their country’s financial system. Nevertheless, China has an early lead in the CBDC race for public use.

If successful, this development, once completed will aid China in achieving two goals. Both in long & short terms. The first, longer-term goal, is to create a digital currency that can compete with other digital currencies such as Bitcoin, other stablecoins and central banks digital currencies.

The second is to reshape China’s current payment system by providing a cash-like digital payment method: accessible to all, low cost, anonymous (to a certain extent), and which facilitates competition among payment service providers.

In fact, the authorities have already started to implement this centrally controlled digital asset in real-life scenarios. For instance, it plans to incorporate it in the upcoming Beijing Winter Olympics 2022. Other ‘eCNY’ projects are in the  ‘sprint’ stage as trials are underway in many provinces.