The number of transactions in the digital yuan at the Winter Olympics exceeded the number of payments through Visa. At the same time, many sellers were outside the “quarantine zone”.
On the day of the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympic Games, which take place at the Beijing National Stadium, also known as the “Bird’s Nest”, more transactions were made in China’s central bank digital currency than through the Visa payment system, according to the WSJ.
Visa has an exclusive contract under which retailers will not accept payment through Alipay, WeChat Pay and other popular payment systems at the Winter Olympics. However, Visa has not dropped e-CNY payment options, possibly because it is awaiting approval of its application for a license to operate in China.
According to the Beijing Organizing Committee of the games, replacing cash with digital currency will significantly reduce people-to-people contact and, accordingly, reduce the risk of the spread of COVID-19. Inside the “quarantine zone”, visitors can exchange fiat currency for digital yuan using cryptomats. At the same time, many sellers also accept e-CNY as payment, being outside the “quarantine zone”.
Earlier it was reported that China faced difficulties in implementing the digital yuan. So, recently, Pennsylvania Senator Pat Toomey said that the digital yuan threatens the interests of the US economy and national security.
