Digital Yuan Transactions Increase 50x in One Year – Now Valued at Nearly $250 Billion

According to the Governor of the Central Bank of China, Yi Gang, transactions conducted using the digital Yuan reached 1.8 trillion Yuan (equivalent to $249.33 billion) by the end of June 2023.

This significant increase indicates substantial growth in the usage of the digital currency as it surged from a mere 100 billion Yuan in August 2022, says a Reuters report.

By the end of June 2022, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) said the value of transactons done in China’s Central Bank Digital Currency (e-CNY) reached 34.5 billion Yuan or $5 billion.

As a digital token issued by the central bank, the e-CNY (digital Yuan) has demonstrated significant progress in adoption even though it is still in the early stages of implementation. The e-CNY’s primary usage has been focused on domestic retail payments indicating its successful integration into the daily financial activities of Chinese consumers.

Spaking during a lecture organized by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), which is the Central Bank of Singapore, Yi Gang said that, as of the end of June 2023:

• The e-CNY in circulation amounted to 16.5 billion Yuan
• The total number of transactions conducted using the digital currency reached 950 million
• There were 120 million wallets opened by users to hold the e-CNY

Despite these substantial figures, it is essential to note that the e-CNY’s circulation currently accounts for only a small fraction, specifically 0.16%, of China’s Mo money supply, which refers to the total amount of cash in circulation in the country.

“And you can see that right now, the balance of e-CNY is only counting two-tenths of 1% of M0, so that the balance is very small, but with this kind of balance (we) support a big number of transactions, which means that the velocity is high and more efficient,” Yi said.

In 2022, Chinese state-owned banks took part in a trial organized by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) which primarily focused on cross-border transactions.

In September 2022, a digital Yuan app was launched by iOS and Android on domestic app stores amid reports that it would be integrated with the leading apps in the country, WeChat and Alipay. This milestone was already reached in April 2023.