China hint at launching digital yuan in 2022 after app launch, WeChat integration

Key Takeaways:

• China may be ready to launch its CBDC in 2022.
• PBOC integrates digital yuan with WeChat, Alipay.
• Digital Yuan, a reson China outlawed crypto?

Nigeria (CoinChapter.com): After almost eight years, China began developing it’s Central Bank Digital Currency (Digital Yuan); the country appears ready to launch the currency for public use finally.

Although the Digital Yuan has been integrated into the lives of many Chinese, the Peoples’ Bank of China (PBOC) is still at the testing phase of the nascent currency. The testing began in 2020.

However, in a move that looks like PBOC is now ready to fully lunch the CBDC for the public over the past few days, the bank launched its mobile app for the CBDC. Afterward, PBOC integrated the digital yuan to messaging and payment app WeChat.

The integration to WeChat, China’s largest messaging app and one of the country’s biggest payment services, raised the most eyebrows. It set tongues wagging with speculations that the bank is ready for a 2022 launch of the digital yuan.

WeChat has over 1 billion users in China. The app may be unpopular outside China; however, it is ubiquitous within Asian country.

In China, WeChat and Alipay, run by Alibaba affiliate Ant Group, dominate mobile payments; last year, Alipay also began trialing digital yuan payments.

Chinese analyst Linghao Bao said, “Chinese consumers are so locked in WeChat Pay and Alipay, it’s not realistic to convince them to switch to a new mobile payment app. So it makes sense for the central bank to team up with WeChat Pay and Alipay as opposed to doing it on its own.”

Beyond the integration, the country also launched a digital wallet for the CBDC available for download on China’s Android and Apple app stores.

Reportedly the wallet would help capture more people to use the digital yuan in line with AliPay and WeChat integration.

Digital Yuan, a reson China outlawed crypto?

For a time, China has frowned against Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. In addition, the PBOC over the years made life tough for crypto firms and miners in the country despite their large number across different regions in China.

In 2021, it began to look like the more the development of the digital yuan, the harder regulators and Chinese Authorities go on crypto firms. Since completing the CBDC and successful trials in different regions in 2021, China outlawed crypto in the same year.

Sighting environmental reasons, volatility, criminality, among others, the country ensured it pursued all crypto firms and stopped residents from dealing with cryptocurrencies.

According to certain conspiracy theories, the reason China came tough on the crypto industry in 2021 was to provide a soft landing for its Digital Yuan, believed to be ready for launch later this year.

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