China's Central Bank, Major City to Hand Out $1.5M in Digital Yuan

Publié le by Coindesk | Publié le

Oct 9, 2020 at 10:03 UTCUpdated Oct 9, 2020 at 15:37 UTC.The People's Bank of China and a district of Shenzhen are to hand out 10 million digital yuan as "Red envelope" gifts to citizens.

The initiative comes as another pilot of the in-development digital currency, which has been in trials with commercial entities and state-owned banks.

Red envelopes are a traditional way of gifting cash in China on holidays or for special occasions such as weddings.

Cn, the pilot will see 50,000 successful applicants each receive 200 of the digital yuan.

They can be spent at 3,389 stores that are set up to transact in the digital currency.

Anyone living in Shenzhen can apply for the gift from Oct. 9.The pilot is being help by the central bank in partnership with Luohu District, Shenzhen, which is funding the effort.

The report suggests the pilot is an indication the digital yuan is close to being launched.

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