Millions download China’s CBDC pilot app in first week

What

A pilot version of the wallet for China’s central bank digital currency, e-CNY, reached 16 million downloads in its first week of release 

Why

The country has aggressively pursued the development of its central bank digital currency (CBDC) while continuing to crack down on the crypto industry inside its borders

What next

China’s digital yuan has been in development for seven years and is likely to be the first official central bank digital currency issued by a major economy

The story

China’s pilot CBDC wallet saw 16 million downloads in the first week since being launched in trial regions across the country. It was released on 3 January but until now was only available for download through private links. 

Data from Qimai, a data provider, shows that more than two million downloads were for Apple devices in mainland China while more than 14 million downloads were for Android devices.  

The app was developed by the Institute of Digital Currency of the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) in cooperation with various Chinese banks. 

The digital yuan, called e-CNY, is expected to be officially launched during the Beijing Winter Olympics in February this year. 

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