To boost usage of China’s central bank digital currency (CBDC), Shenzhen City gave away 10 million digital yuan to lucky citizens in October. A second digital yuan lottery is already being planned and will be held next month in the city of Suzhou.
The second lottery for China’s central bank digital currency will be held next month, according to Coindesk. It will take place in the city of Suzhou on December 12 during a shopping festival known as “Double 12.”
Residents of the city could apply online for a chance to win 200 digital yuans. A total of 10 million units of the CBDC, which is worth around $1.5 million, will be up for grabs through a lottery system.
According to the report, the lottery is designed to “gauge the usability of the digital yuan.” Thus, the second digital yuan lottery will test “additional aspects of the technology” that were not activated during the first giveaway in Shenzen. One of the new features that will be trialed during the event is the ability to allow “users to touch smart devices to make transfers.”
“Many” businesses in Suzhou’s Xiangchen district have already been installed with point-of-sales tech with near-field communication (NFC) in preparation for the event. These establishments will also have QR code capabilities that will allow lottery winners to spend their digital yuan winnings.
The first digital yuan giveaway happened in the city of Shenzhen last October. Just like in the upcoming Suzhou event, a total of 10 million digital yuan were away to lucky Shenzhen residents in a bid to boost usage of the government-backed digital currency.
Lucky winners were selected via a lottery system from a list of citizens who were able to apply online before the deadline. A total of 50,000 winners were given 200 digital yuan which they used as payment for purchases made at any of the 3,389 designated shops in Shenzhen’s Luohu district during the redemption period.
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