SINGAPORE : Transactions using China’s digital yuan hit 1.8 trillion yuan ($249.33 billion) at end-June, the country’s central bank governor Yi Gang said on Wednesday, marking a jump from over 100 billion yuan as of August last year.
The numbers cement China’s role as a leader among countries that are developing their own central bank digital currencies (CBDC) – digital tokens issued by central banks – although adoption is still in the early stages. The e-CNY, as the digital yuan is called, has so far been used mainly for domestic retail payments.
Speaking at a lecture organised by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) in the Southeast Asian city-state, Yi said China’s digital currency in circulation reached 16.5 billion yuan as of end-June.
Total e-CNY transactions reached 950 million, with 120 million wallets being opened, Yi said.
