• Every day, more than $315,000 worth of digital currency is used at the Winter Olympics.
• The Chinese central banking is active in promoting adoption of the digital Yuan.
• Some are concerned about privacy and cybersecurity.

The Chinese digital currency — e-CNY — currently makes 2 million yuan ($315,761) of payments per day. This amount was estimated by Mu Changchun (Digital Currency Research Institute Director) during the Atlantic Council webinar.

Central bank digital currency (CBDC) is a digital version of a nation’s fiat currency. The Bahamas is an example of a country that has its own digital currency. That being the case, China’s attempt at a digital currency, being this large, is being closely watched by the world. The country’s CBDC launch was even expedited for the 2022 Winter Olympics.

This experiment will also be very interesting because there will be many people worldwide who attend the Games. These people will all be encouraged to make use of e-CNY via wristbands or payments cards, smartphones, and payment cards.

The Director General stated:

I have a rough idea that there are several, or a couple of million digital yuan of payments every day, but I don’t have exact numbers yet.

Mu states, as well that foreigners prefer to use physical wallets. This is referring specifically to the eCNY payment card. He states that the majority of software wallets used in domestic use are domestic.

The PBOC actively promoted the Chinese CBDC use at the 2022 Winter Olympics. In fact, Bank of China set up special ATMs on certain Games venues. Foreign guests can convert their banknotes to e-CNY and normal yuan.

On the other side, there are people concerned about cybersecurity and privacy issues associated with this project. US Senator Marco Rubio considers the e-CNY a security risk to individuals. In fact, Rubio wrote a letter to Joe Biden in which he voiced his concerns.

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