It seems as if China is definitely moving forward in its
plan to devise and utilise an electronic currency. According to reports, which
are backed by the state, McDonald’s
and Starbucks are currently testing a digital yuan.
This digital currency was in development by the People’s
Bank of China for the past few years. Not much has been revealed about it yet
but rumours that its design is similar to Bitcoin are not founded. This is
because the latter supports anonymity and decentralisation. It is not issued by
a central authority. In contrast, the digital
yuan is a product of the People’s Bank of China and its aim is to make e-payments
easier and faster.
Securities Times reported that 19 companies in total are
going to participate in a pilot launch of the new currency. Three of these are
the US firms McDonald’s, Starbucks and Subway. The money will be rolled
out in Xiong’an, a special district about 86 miles southwest of Beijing in
Hebei province. There are plans by President Xi Jinping to make this area a new
economic centre.
This upcoming pilot program will focus on the application of
the digital
yuan in retail and catering. It follows another project in Suzhou
where the currency was being used to give subsidies to local workers for
transport.
Three
US firms are testing a digital currency
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