As eNaira struggles to complete N188 million transactions in 3months, China’s e-CNY has outpaced it by completing 2 million yuan (approximately $315,761 or N131.35 million) in a single day.
China’s new Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), the e-CNY, is being used to make $315,761 or more of payments a day in its latest pilot at the Beijing Winter Olympics, according to Reuters.
A top official from the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) has provided an update on the latest trial of the Chinese CBDC during a webinar arranged by the Atlantic Council. This has led to the uptick in transactions for China’s digital currency.
What you should know
According to Mu Changchun, Director-General of the central bank’s Digital Currency Research Institute, the Chinese CBDC is being used to make 2 million yuan ($315,000) or more in payments each day at the Winter Olympics.
“I have a rough idea that (there are) several, or a couple of million RMB (yuan) of payments every day, but I don’t have exact numbers yet,” Changchun said. “It seems all the foreign users are using hardware wallets … The software wallets are mainly used by domestic users.”
The digital yuan is being tested in cities across China, including Shenzhen, Suzhou, Xiongan, Chengdu, Shanghai, Hainan, Changsha, Xian, Qingdao, and Dalian, in addition to the Winter Olympics.
The PBOC later stated that the digital yuan had 261 million unique users at the end of 2021, with transactions totalling 87.5 billion yuan ($13.78 billion). In addition, the digital yuan is now accepted by almost 8 million merchants.
eNaira update
- After three months since its launch, Africa’s first digital currency, eNaira, has recorded less than 10% in P2P transactions.
- Google trends indicate that Africa’s first central bank digital currency has its strongest interest in the core northern part of Nigeria, with Borno leading with a perfect score of 100, followed by Sokoto, Gombe, Taraba, and Zamfara.
- Over 488,000 people have downloaded the consumer wallet and about 78,000 merchants from more than 160 countries have enrolled according to the CBN.
