Chinese Ride-Hailing Giant Didi to Test PBoC Central Bank Digital Currency

[BradSow]

It looks like the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) is all set to test its central bank digital currency (CBDC) - Digital Yuan - in its market. In a major development Chinese ride-hailing giant DiDi announced that it is now developing a task force to implement the Digital Yuan use on its platform.

A spokesperson from Didi said that the company has entered into a strategic partnership with the Digital Currency Research Institute of the People’s Bank of China (PBoC). This move is an effort to accelerate the real-life application of the CBDC, known as Digital Currency Electronic Payment, or DCEP.

In its official statement, the company said: “Under PBoC’s overall DCEP strategy and operation timeline, DiDi’s DCEP taskforce will design and implement pilot DCEP projects in accordance with rigorous safety, security and governance standards. The partnership is a key milestone in DiDi’s ongoing initiatives to enhance the interconnectivity of online and offline economic sectors in China, as the government seeks to support the development of the real economy sectors with innovative financial services”.

As per the data from CB Insights, Didi is the world’s second-highest-valued unicorn startup valued at $56 billion and with over 550 million users across Asia, Latin America and Australia. Called as the Uber of China, its major services include public transportation and food delivery. The company also plans to release over 1 million self-driving cars in the market through its autonomous subsidiary, by 2030.

With such a massive user base of Didi, the PBoC can get a better understanding of the working of its CBDC. Besides, it will have enough data at hand to judge the project’s user-friendliness and how consumers are reacting to it. This, in turn, will help to set the stage for the pan-country launch its CBDC.

The Chinese central bank (PBoC) which is currently working with the Digital Yuan has also joined hands with multiple commercial banks and other technology giants for testing the CBDC. Reportedly, PBoC is also working with other commercial banks to test run a wallet application that will store, send, and receive the Digital Yuan.

As per the latest media reports, PBoC is conducting CBDC tests at some commercial shops like Subway, McDonalds, and Starbucks and has asked all government representatives to participate in it.

China has been Asia’s contender to work on a CBDC project and has accelerated all its developments over the last year. Another Asian economic giant - Japan - also plans to soon start testing the Digital Yen looking to the rising developments in global market.

Source: WorldCoinIndex

[Alcor]

Something has not been heard recently on the introduction of the Chinese digital yuan. Testing has been going on for several months now and I would like to see how this national stablecoin of such a large country as China is received. I think that its impact on the global financial market will be very large. At the same time, it is not yet entirely clear how such stablecoins of states will affect the decentralized cryptocurrency and in particular, bitcoin. On the one hand, this is the recognition by states of this financial technology and therefore should increase people's interest in cryptocurrency, and on the other hand, such stablecoins will be a real competitor to cryptocurrency as a means of payment.

[masterrex]

Well, china can do that because its a government sanction to create a digital currency aka CBDC, and I believe it's on a full swing of development, China is leading now in terms of digital currency innovation I hope that other countries will do the same, In my country, a commercial bank has introduced its digital currency and it was fiat-backed Its sounds good to me a commercial bank which is centralized is adopting the decentralized technology (DLT) like blockchain sounds interesting.

[TomPluz]

I am so sure that all business in China will be using the digital yuan all because they are afraid to say no to the government. Such is the great influence of the government in there that a simple pronouncement can be enough to make people and institutions toe the line. In other words, we should be expecting the digital yuan to be widely used and utilized not just inside China but also outside especially where there are Chine doing business. I am also sure that many other countries can be following the trend  so that years from now we will already have a digitalized economy using digital money issued by governments side by side with autonomous cryptocurrencies.

[Senin]

I am so sure that all business in China will be using the digital yuan all because they are afraid to say no to the government. Such is the great influence of the government in there that a simple pronouncement can be enough to make people and institutions toe the line. In other words, we should be expecting the digital yuan to be widely used and utilized not just inside China but also outside especially where there are Chine doing business. I am also sure that many other countries can be following the trend  so that years from now we will already have a digitalized economy using digital money issued by governments side by side with autonomous cryptocurrencies.

It is worth agreeing with this opinion. The digitized yuan should indeed receive widespread support from the people of China, and even in those countries with which the Chinese are actively involved in trade. And since such a geography is very extensive, the role of the digital yuan can sharply increase throughout the world. Against the background of such growth, the dollar will lose its value as a world currency.

[Tanimariya]

Digital currencies such as Bitcoin or cryptocurrencies are being used for business in China. China has come a long way in this regard. It has made a lot of progress and I believe they will be one of the best countries in the world. As they move forward, their country's government is very active in cryptocurrency. So they will move forward, the countries that are not active in the government will not be able to move forward. This is because when the currency is traded inside the country, the amount of certain assets of the country increases. So I think this will use the currency of the country.