DCEP Trials Continue in Shenzhen, Another $3 Million in Red Packets Distributed
Following the success of previous trials of the upcoming digital yuan payment system, the city of Shenzhen has launched another major pilot program aimed at utilizing the central bank digital currency. According to the latest report from Chain News, China’s prime source of blockchain-related news, another district of the major southern city will be launching its own version of the “RMB red packets.”
The report, published on Jan. 21, said that the central Longhua District is set to distribute 20 million yuan, worth around $3.08 million at press time, to its residents. The “red packet” event will be set up exactly like the previous trials that took place within the city—a total of 100,000 packets, each worth 200 yuan, will be distributed. To be eligible to receive the packets, citizens must register on the district’s official website with their name, ID card number, and cell phone number. Only citizens that have purchased their social insurance from their work providers will be eligible to participate. Aside from that, users will need to confirm that they would stay within the city of Shenzhen during the Chinese New Year.
The registration period for the trial began on Jan. 20 at 9:00 a.m. and will close at 18:00 p.m. on Jan. 25.
Winners of the packets will be chosen through a random lottery process, after which they will receive the 200 packets to their digital yuan wallet.
Local government authorities in Shenzhen announced that the digital yuan packets can be spent on goods and services at several places around the city. Large supermarkets and retailers in Longhua District, Dalang Fashion Town, and the Longhua Poverty Alleviation District will accept digital yuan payments, Chain News reported earlier today.
While designed to test user participation, these trials don’t reflect the full functionality the digital yuan will have once fully launched. Namely, citizens that receive the red packets cannot transfer their funds to other people or redeem them for actual yuans on their bank accounts. Users that don’t spend all of their digital yuan before the trial is completed will see their funds taken back.
The red packet pilot program will officially begin on Feb.1 and last until Feb. 9.
This is the third time a digital yuan pilot project has been launched in the city of Shenzhen. Back in October last year, the first digital yuan lottery program took place in the Luohu district. After seeing huge success both in terms of the volume and the number of transactions processed, the trial was almost exactly replicated in the district of Futian in January this year. At the end of last year, the city of Suzhou also conducted a hugely successful digital yuan trial, with local news outlets reporting that the interest in digital yuan wallets remained high even after the pilot project ended.
Priyeshu is a software engineer who is passionate about machine learning and blockchain technology. He built his first digital marketing startup as a teenager and worked with multiple Fortune 500 companies. He's an alumni from mass-transit app Ola and holds a degree in computer science engineering.
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