This month, China's central bank digital currency, the digi-yuan, hit digital wallets.
Background: China has been developing a digital currency for a while now. And this month, China's central bank digital currency, the digi-yuan, hit digital wallets.
What happened: Now, China wants to show-off its digi-yuan to the world at the Beijing Winter Olympics. Athletes and spectators will be able to download an app, or get a physical card, that stores the digital yuan.
What else: The juicy part? It'll be only one of 3 payment methods acceptable. That means no Alipay or WeChat Pay. And it's all part of China's ploy to become a key part of the future of digital currency.
💡Move over space race, we are witnessing a currency race between global central banks. Currently, there are 87 countries developing their own digital currencies.
💡Central bank digital currencies (CBDC) and cryptocurrencies are often spoken about interchangeably - but they ain't the same thing.
💡CBDC's are actually legal tender, because they're just a digital representation of a country's existing currency. In other words, China will be able to track all transactions within the digi-yuan. Whereas crypto is totally decentralised and largely anonymous.
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