China: First blockchain payment of wages in digital yuan | Cointelegraph

“China is making progress in testing its central bank digital currency (CBDC) and introducing blockchain payments for the first time to get your salary in digital yuan.

According to the official website of the Xiong’an New Area, the Chinese central bank PBoC has paid out wages on-chain in digital yuan for the first time.

On Saturday, Xiong’an authorities said the pilot project was led by the Shijiazhuang-based PBoC branch and supported by the Bank of China Hebei in Xiong’an and the National Development and Reform Commission.”

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China’s Much-Hyped Digital Yuan Fails to Impress Early Users | Bloomberg

“As China moves closer to rolling out the world’s first major sovereign digital currency, speculation over the global implications has reached a fever pitch.

Historian Niall Ferguson is calling the digital yuan a “potentially fatal challenge” to decades of American financial hegemony. Franklin Templeton’s Michael Hasenstab says it could undermine the dollar’s role as the world’s reserve currency. Joe Biden’s White House is studying the potential threat to U.S. interests.

Yet talk to people who’ve actually used the digital yuan in China, and you’re more likely to get a different response: shrugs of indifference.

In Shenzhen, the high-tech metropolis that just extended China’s largest digital yuan trial, participants interviewed by Bloomberg showed little interest in switching from mobile payment systems run by Ant Group Co. and Tencent Holdings Ltd. that have already replaced cash in much of the country. Some balked at the possibility a digital yuan might give authorities easier access to real-time data on their financial lives.”

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Bitmain-backed crypto firm Matrixport opens Zurich office | Swissinfo

Singapore-based crypto financial services company Matrixport is setting up a European operations centre in Switzerland. Matrixport has close links to the Chinese cryptocurrency mining giant Bitmain, which is simultaneously winding down its Swiss presence.

@ Swissinfo.ch | November 26, 2019