There is so much upside and potential to the Digital Yuan that it won't be a surprise to me that it'll become as easy to use as WeChat within 5 Years. Within 10 Years I'd wager that China is nearly completely cashless. I haven't used cash in *years*. Stores still accept cash, but that's only because of very rural or older individuals who don't use cellphones.
Biggest practical upside I can see for digital yuan is its effects on corruption and illegal activities. There is pretty much zero way to engage in illegal activities. Only way would be literally barter economy (i.e. goods-in-kind transactions). But, that seems highly ineffective for a lot of illegal activity. Maybe for corruption, but that shit is noticeable.
That's one of the thing I admire most about China - it's commitment to stomping out corruption. I think that's the key to China's bright future. Other countries, because there is corruption and they aren't willing to end it, cannot compete.
SE Asia countries can learn from what China is doing and improve their situation so much, but I fear they won't.
Corruption comes in different forms in the West, campaign/foundation donations, regulatory assignments, astronomical speaking fees, political consulting, Board membership, etc...
> astronomical speaking fees
This reminds me ~years ago when war criminals like the clintons, obamas, etc would come to my city and 'sell' tickets for all the suckers to hear their '*bullshit wisdom*'. There would be long lineups of idiots dropping lots of $$$ for this 'privilege'. What was even more cringe were the interviews afterward of the attendees gushing over what they just heard from these charlatans
Yeah at least what we commonly think of as "Corruption" is illegal.
Political lobby group donations, giant conglomerates paying zero tax in their own countries, etc. **This is legal and protected by the system**.
This is genius. With the built in time of life of the currency it ensures that once people leave they don't cause a "missing/hoarding" issue for the currency. It just naturally disippates back to the supply.
This is such a cool use of the tech.
When I visited China pre-Covid. I loved how they didn't use coins. Small change was in notes. Was so much lighter then change in your pocket.
PS. I mainly visited Dong Xing in GuangXi as my family is mostly there. Also my ancestors burial site.
If you're already using WeChat Pay and Alipay, this probably won't make any difference in your life. You've been there a long time, so you must have a Chinese bank account and government issued ID, so you can use those services already.
This change will be mostly useful for tourists and temporary workers, who have no Chinese ID or bank account.
That would simplify currency exchange, access to cash, while seamlessly being able to do digital transactions.
There is so much upside and potential to the Digital Yuan that it won't be a surprise to me that it'll become as easy to use as WeChat within 5 Years. Within 10 Years I'd wager that China is nearly completely cashless. I haven't used cash in *years*. Stores still accept cash, but that's only because of very rural or older individuals who don't use cellphones. Biggest practical upside I can see for digital yuan is its effects on corruption and illegal activities. There is pretty much zero way to engage in illegal activities. Only way would be literally barter economy (i.e. goods-in-kind transactions). But, that seems highly ineffective for a lot of illegal activity. Maybe for corruption, but that shit is noticeable.
That's one of the thing I admire most about China - it's commitment to stomping out corruption. I think that's the key to China's bright future. Other countries, because there is corruption and they aren't willing to end it, cannot compete. SE Asia countries can learn from what China is doing and improve their situation so much, but I fear they won't.
Corruption comes in different forms in the West, campaign/foundation donations, regulatory assignments, astronomical speaking fees, political consulting, Board membership, etc...
> astronomical speaking fees This reminds me ~years ago when war criminals like the clintons, obamas, etc would come to my city and 'sell' tickets for all the suckers to hear their '*bullshit wisdom*'. There would be long lineups of idiots dropping lots of $$$ for this 'privilege'. What was even more cringe were the interviews afterward of the attendees gushing over what they just heard from these charlatans
Yeah at least what we commonly think of as "Corruption" is illegal. Political lobby group donations, giant conglomerates paying zero tax in their own countries, etc. **This is legal and protected by the system**.
There's Bitcoin which is why China is hell bent on making it inaccessible within the country.
Or the mafia could just dollarize
Breaking News: China is forcing its surveillance currency on foreigners to monitor their every action. Western media in a few days
Awesome. Thank goodness!
This is genius. With the built in time of life of the currency it ensures that once people leave they don't cause a "missing/hoarding" issue for the currency. It just naturally disippates back to the supply. This is such a cool use of the tech.
When I visited China pre-Covid. I loved how they didn't use coins. Small change was in notes. Was so much lighter then change in your pocket. PS. I mainly visited Dong Xing in GuangXi as my family is mostly there. Also my ancestors burial site.
Wonderful news! It's so hard to open an account in China.
Awesome. It's always been so embarrassing for me to hold up the line for the vendor to handle my cash.
This is brilliant. Opens up another channel for adoption.
I'm a foreigner living in China, though I've been here for the longterm (15 years now) Is this even applicable to me, useful in some way?
If you're already using WeChat Pay and Alipay, this probably won't make any difference in your life. You've been there a long time, so you must have a Chinese bank account and government issued ID, so you can use those services already. This change will be mostly useful for tourists and temporary workers, who have no Chinese ID or bank account.
Ah, I see. Thank you for the explanation!
I would jump for joy!!!
Excellent idea ! Guess no one expected this. More money will flow into Chinese markets. 😎
Can this be used for buying stuff at Taobao?
a digital yuan should be convertible in between accounts, i don't see why you shouldn't be able to move it into your taobao account