Hong Kong to Kickstart New Web3 and Digital Yuan Initiatives This Year

March 5, 2024 Bitcoin.com

Digital yuan app adds prepaid Mastercard Visa top-ups for tourists

September 25, 2023 Coin Telegraph

China

The e-CNY app now allows tourists to top-up their wallets using Mastercard and Visa payments with a “recharge first and use later” option.

Tourists planning to visit the People’s Republic of China can now pre-charge their digital yuan wallets using Visa and Mastercard payment options as the nation continues to update the mobile app powering its central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot.

The e-CNY app, which is still in its pilot version, is available to iOS and China-based Google Play Store users. The application serves individual users, allowing them to open digital yuan wallets to use e-CNY.

As per the latest iOS app update published on Sept. 22, version 1.1.1 supports its top-up service with international card options.

*The latest version of e-CNY app on the Apple App Store introduces the top-up service for international cards. Source: e-CNY app*

According to a number of local Chinese news outlets, the latest version of the e-CNY app coincides with the start of the Asian Games.

*A tutorial for foreign users outlining the process of signing up using an international number. Source: e-CNY app.*

China has extensively trialed using the digital yuan as a payment option for foreigners visiting the country. According to Yicai, the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022 marked the beginning of the CBDC pilot being open for tourists as a means to transact with local merchants using e-CNY.

Inbound tourists are reportedly able to make use of overseas mobile numbers to register and open e-CNY wallets and make use of the recharge wallet feature, which now supports Visa and Mastercard payments.

As Cointelegraph recently reported, China is making moves to ensure that the digital yuan is available as a payment option for all retail payment scenarios. This would make the digital yuan a ubiquitous payment method in China between retail users and merchants.

Magazine: Real reason for China’s war on crypto, 3AC judge’s embarrassing mistake: Asia Express

China’s digital yuan nears $250B transaction volume: Central bank governor

July 20, 2023 Coin Telegraph

China’s digital yuan nears 0B transaction volume: Central bank governor

Bank of China Hong Kong

While the adoption and use cases of China’s e-CNY are expanding, the digital yuan still only represents 0.16% of China’s monetary supply.

Nearly $250 billion worth of transactions have taken place using China’s digital yuan in the one-and-a-half years since the start of its pilot, the country’s central bank governor has claimed.

On July 19, People’s Bank of China governor Yi Gang spoke at a conference in Singapore and said its central bank digital currency transacted 1.8 trillion yuan as of the end of June.

Yi added there have been around 950 million transactions from roughly 120 million wallets since the e-CNY’s initial January 2022 rollout lending to an average transaction amount of about $260.

MAS is honoured to have Dr Yi Gang, President of China Society for Finance and Banking as the speaker for the MAS Lecture 2023. Dr Yi spoke on “CBDC from China’s perspective”.

Find out more here: https://t.co/UbikjgQhRn pic.twitter.com/UuQwOQe8n0
— MAS (@MAS_sg) July 19, 2023

He claimed around $2.3 billion, or 16.5 billion e-CNY, was in circulation at the end of June, which only represents 0.16% of China’s monetary supply, according to a July 19 Reuters report.

The digital yuan’s adoption is still minimal relative to China’s 1.4 billion strong population, so far, the e-CNY had mostly been used for domestic retail payments aside from a few trials in Hong Kong.

On July 18, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported the Bank of China Hong Kong began trialing another cross-border payment scheme for Bank of China customers at select retail stores in Hong Kong.

The trial was rolled out in a bid to further promote the cross-border applications of e-CNY and is the third cross-border trial of the digital yuan in Hong Kong, according to the SCMP.

In a trial last year the BOCHK launched a program that encouraged customers to set up a BOC e-CNY wallet to receive $14 (100 yuan) to be used at the Hong Kong supermarket chain U Select.

In January, the central bank integrated smart contract functionality into the digital yuan to expand upon its use cases.

The $250 billion in e-CNY transactions is an over 70% increase from the number the bank cited in August 2022.

The amount is still, however, far off the amount of value processed by some of the largest public blockchains in the world.

Bitcoin (BTC), for example, processed $8.2 trillion in 2022, according to various reports.

Magazine: Asia Express: China expands CBDC’s tentacles, Malaysia is HK’s new crypto rival

Crypto-Friendly DBS Bank Launches Digital Yuan Designed for CBDC Payments

July 5, 2023 The Daily Hodl

China to gain most from restrictive US crypto regulations: Coinbase CEO

May 31, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Belt and Road Initiative

The Coinbase CEO has been hugely critical of the U.S. failure to provide the crypto industry with regulatory clarity and has long argued it will push firms offshore.

“Adversary nations” like China could ultimately benefit from restrictive crypto policies in the United States, warns Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong.

In a May 30 op-ed for MarketWatch, Armstrong again warned that while recent turbulence in crypto markets might tempt U.S. policymakers “to write it off as an unstable asset class,” doing so could see the U.S. cede its status as a financial leader and innovation hub.

In today's @MarketWatch I'm sharing an op-ed encouraging policymakers to see the big picture with crypto. It's important for American technology leadership and national security that this industry be built (at least in part) in America. https://t.co/I1702aHDGf
— Brian Armstrong ️ (@brian_armstrong) May 30, 2023

Armstrong urged policymakers to see that crypto is “about much more than individual transactions,” but represents a “transformative technology” that can revolutionize a variety of sectors — highlighting its ability to provide creators with royalties for secondary market transactions as an example and adding:

“Crypto, like the internet before it, has the potential to modernize finance and numerous other sectors, from supply chains to social media, by offering a faster, cheaper, more private, and accessible platform.”

Through his status as a public figure and head of Coinbase, Armstrong has long been pushing for U.S. policymakers to provide the crypto industry with regulatory clarity that can help realize crypto’s potential whilst protecting consumers.

Coinbase has continued to ask for clarity from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission around which digital assets qualify as securities and has argued against the agency’s “regulation by enforcement” approach. SEC chair Gary Gensler has previously argued that digital assets already fall under existing securities regulations.

In the op-ed, Armstrong added it was unsurprising that Hong Kong is positioning itself to be a global crypto hub, as China looks to challenge the U.S.’s role as the global financial leader in a variety of ways — such as the recent launch of the digital yuan and Belt and Road Initiatives.

Xi calls for deep alignment between Belt and Road Initiative and Eurasian Economic Union #BRI #China
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday called for a deeper synergy between the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) as China looks to enhance… pic.twitter.com/bwFcXIvgk4
— Zhang Heqing (@zhang_heqing) May 25, 2023

He warned that failing to pass comprehensive crypto legislation would result in the U.S. needing to play catch-up and spend billions to bring innovation back to the U.S., but noted that even with a “colossal and sustained effort” it might be too late by then.

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China Pushes Digital Yuan for Wage Payments in Changshu

April 25, 2023 Bitcoin.com

Russia Launching Payment System With ‘No Restrictions’ — Digital Currencies to Be Completely Unrestricted

April 25, 2023 Bitcoin.com

US Senator Ted Cruz tries again with new bill to block CBDC

March 22, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Biden Administration

Ted Cruz said it is “more important than ever” to ensure the financial privacy of American citizens is preserved.

Republican Senator Ted Cruz has introduced a bill to block the United States Federal Reserve from launching a “direct-to-consumer” central bank digital currency (CBDC).

In a March 21 statement, Cruz said he introduced the bill to prevent the Fed from developing a retail CBDC “which could be used as a financial surveillance tool by the federal government.”

Cruz stated it’s “more important than ever” to ensure U.S. policy on digital currencies protects “financial privacy, maintain’s the dollar’s dominance and cultivates innovation,” and added:

“CBDCs that fail to adhere to these three basic principles could enable an entity like the Federal Reserve to mobilize itself into a retail bank, collect personally identifiable information on users, and track their transactions indefinitely.”

Cruz claimed the federal government has “no authority to unilaterally establish” a CBDC.

“We should be empowering entrepreneurs, enabling innovation, and increasing individual freedom — not stifling it,” he stressed.

The federal government has no authority to unilaterally establish a central bank currency.

Read about my new bill in @FoxBusiness: Ted Cruz introduces bill blocking Fed from adopting central bank digital currencyhttps://t.co/LoX3u41nA4
— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) March 21, 2023

Cruz’s anti-CBDC bill has the backing of Republican Senators Mike Braun of Indiana and Chuck Grassley of Iowa.

In statements, both expressed the belief that a CBDC would be used as a surveillance tool.

If the bill is passed into law, it would ensure that the state isn’t “snooping” on the finances of hardworking Americans, Grassley stated:

"The American people ought to be able to spend their money how they choose without the possibility that every transaction could be tracked by the government."

The anti-CBDC bill is a second attempt by Cruz, Braun and Grassley, who introduced a similar bill on March 30, 2022 to prohibit the Fed from issuing a CBDC directly to individuals.

However, nearly 12 months later, the bill still hasn’t moved past the introduction phase.

Meanwhile, considerable progress is being made on a U.S. dollar CBDC since President Joe Biden signed an executive order to “Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets” in March, 2022.

In November, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and several large financial firms including BNY Mellon, Citi, HSBC, and Wells Fargo participated in a 12-week digital dollar pilot program with MasterCard and SWIFT.

Cruz, Braun and Grassley aren’t the only U.S. politicians fighting to stamp out CBDCs.

On March 20, Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis called on state lawmakers to introduce legislation banning the digital dollar in Florida.

DeSantis compared the digital dollar to China’s digital yuan and claimed the e-CNY has been used to extensively “monitor citizen behavior,” saying:

“Any way they can get into society to exercise their agenda, they will do it. So, what the central bank digital currency is all about is surveilling Americans and controlling behavior of Americans.”

No CBDC in Florida https://t.co/p9pwSTmrlN
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) March 20, 2023

U.S. Congressman Tom Emmer recently introduced an anti-CBDC bill of his own on Feb 22.

Emmer also spoke of the privacy concerns surrounding CBDCs saying a programmable dollar could be “easily weaponized” as a spying tool to “choke out politically unpopular activity.”

Magazine: Are CBDCs kryptonite for crypto?