China’s Changsha Claims Over 300,000 Merchants Accepted Digital Yuan

• Changsha said that its residents have processed over 53.25 million digital yuan transactions.
• Changsha was introduced to the digital yuan pilot program in April 2021.
• The pilot trial was introduced to other cities too including Shanghai, Hainan, Xi’an, Qingdao, and Dalian.

Changsha, a city in China, has seen widespread adoption of the digital yuan with over 300,000 stores and vendors now accepting payment in the country’s central bank digital currency (CBDC).

Local newspapers revealed that more than 300,000 digital yuan merchants were currently operating in Changsha. The city said that its residents have processed over 53.25 million digital yuan transactions. Changsha was introduced to the digital yuan pilot program in April 2021 with other cities like Shanghai, Hainan, Xi’an, Qingdao, and Dalian.

Data from the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) disclosed that the city has been ranked among the top areas for the huge number of personal digital wallets opened, business transactions, and monthly active wallets.

In 2022, the CBDC was piloted across 17 provinces. In a bid to promote its digital currency, PBoC announced a number of token giveaways in Hangzhou and Beijing to celebrate Lunar New Year celebrations. Furthermore, as a part of its campaign, PBoC had also brought in around 30 digital yuan red “envelope activities” like airdropping some amount of CBDC to citizens.

The PBoC had reportedly revealed its plans to introduce new features to its trials of the digital yuan including the addition of a QR code-based transaction system to make the CBDC more user-friendly.

In other news, Tron’s founder, Justin Sun, recently stated that China’s current tax imposition points to more cryptocurrency usage. Thus, while China’s attitude toward crypto has been strict, the government has been at the forefront of taking every step possible to ensure the CBDC’s success.