Chinese banks have begun a hard sell of digital yuan wallets, asking staff to recruit hundreds of new users each year. According to a translation of a June 6 article from Shenlian Caijing, employees of top banks such as the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and the Bank of Communications, along with four other state-owned banks, have been instructed to promote digital yuan wallets to an average of 200 to 300 people a year. To entice new users, employees are able to offer an odd variety of small gifts, such as “laundry detergent, data cables, card holders, Chinese knots, …

The State Bank of Vietnam is reportedly set to become the latest central bank to delve into explorations of the feasibility and operationality of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). Its brief, distinct from other countries, is looking to trial a digital currency that would be expressly built on blockchain technology, rather than a centralized protocol. According to a July 3 report from the English-language daily Viet Nam News, Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính announced the initiative as part of his wider e-government development strategy. The central bank is expected to work on the development and implementation of the pilot from …

Japan will have more clarity on the design of its central bank digital currency (CBDC) no earlier than late 2022, according to a ruling party official. Hideki Murai, head of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party of Japan’s panel on digital currencies, said that the Bank of Japan (BoJ) is still working on sorting out the key functions of the digital yen, such as defining what entities would serve as intermediaries between the central bank and its deposit holders. “By around the end of next year, we’ll have a clearer view of what Japan's CBDC would look like,” Murai said in …

Rishi Sunak, chancellor of the Exchequer for the United Kingdom, has included cryptocurrencies and stablecoins on the list of financial reforms the government plans to undertake in the next few years. Speaking to lawmakers at the Lord Mayor of London’s residence on Thursday, the chancellor said the U.K. government would be implementing recommendations to establish the country as a center of fintech innovation and business. Though Sunak said the U.K. would be protecting its citizens’ access to cash, he added authorities would be monitoring updates in finance and technology as well as working on its own reforms regarding digital assets. …

China continues expanding the scope of its central bank digital currency (CBDC) by debuting digital yuan payments for transport services. According to an official Wednesday announcement, the Beijing subway has launched a pilot program enabling passengers to access 24 subway lines and four suburban railway stations using the digital yuan, also known as e-CNY. The new service is only available for customers witb a bank account at the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, a major bank involved in China’s CBDC tests. “You need to download a mobile app that is linked with your bank account to access the service,” …

The Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE), the governing political body in Spain, is backing a new national digital currency initiative. PSOE, Spain’s oldest active party and the leading force in the Congress of Deputies, has introduced a non-law proposition to launch a national digital currency in response to the ongoing decline in cash usage, local news agency El Economista reported Monday. The party noted that the proposition comes in response to the European Central Bank’s experiments with a digital euro. Carlos Conesa, general director of the financial innovation division at the Spanish Central Bank, recently said that “the decision to …

Randal Quarles, vice chair for supervision of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, said he believed neither dollar-pegged stablecoins nor digital currencies issued by foreign central banks are likely major causes for concern for the U.S. dollar. In a prepared statement for the Annual Utah Bankers Association Convention Monday, Quarles said that foreign currencies — whether fiat or digital — would be unlikely to challenge the U.S. dollar’s role in the global economy. He cited the size of the U.S. economy, trade relationships with other nations, and “credible U.S. monetary policy” as reasons he believed even a central bank digital …

New York Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams believes the emergence of cryptocurrencies poses a significant challenge to existing regulations, highlighting the ongoing discussions policymakers are having about blockchain technology and central bank digital currencies, or CBDCs. Before central banks like the Federal Reserve can issue their own CBDC, several major questions pertaining to blockchain technology and regulation need to be addressed, Williams told a panel hosted by the Bank for International Settlements. Specifically, Williams said policymakers need to outline how blockchain-based payment systems would function alongside physical cash. Williams is a member of this year’s Federal Open Market Committee, …

The Monetary Authority of Singapore, the country’s central bank and a major financial regulator, is challenging fintech companies to pitch solutions for a central bank digital currency, or CBDC. On Monday, the central bank officially announced a global challenge that seeks new retail CBDC solutions which enhance payment efficiencies and promote financial inclusion. As part of the initiative, the MAS is planning to distribute 50,000 Singapore dollars, or $37,000 USD at time of publication, to each of three challenge winners. They will also provide expert mentorship to 15 finalists in an effort t encourage rapid development of digital currency solutions. …

A new project calling itself the first of the fourth generation blockchains says it has solved the “blockchain trilemma” with a new approach to decentralization and an identity-based approach to security. The MetaMUI Blockchain is a “self-sovereign, identity-based meta blockchain” Seokgu (Phantom) Yun, founder and CEO of Sovereign Wallet Network (SWN) told a live ask-me-anything session held on Cointelegraph's YouTube channel. “MetaMUI Network is the permissioned public blockchain SovereignWallet Network is building with central banks, commercial banks, financial institutions, and other blockchain companies around the world.” The blockchain trilemma, posited by Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin, is that full decentralization, scalability, …

An executive at major Spanish bank Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA) has raised concerns about the digital euro and questioned what customer demand it would meet. Pablo Urbiola of BBVA’s digital regulation team has called on European financial authorities to carefully explore the possible issuance of a central bank digital currency (CBDC). Urbiola said Friday at a European Banking Federation seminar that, despite the increasing need for a European CBDC, it is not yet exactly clear what kind of customer demand the digital euro is supposed to meet: “Considering all the innovation that is taking place in the payments market, …

Blockchain, the underlying technology of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC), is not the right solution for a central bank digital currency, according to an economist at Switzerland’s central bank. Carlos Lenz, chief economist at the Swiss National Bank, argued that blockchain-based decentralization features are not efficient for a state-controlled digital currencies like a digital franc, German-language Swiss newspaper The Handelszeitung reported Thursday. The economist reportedly noted that there is a large number of technological opportunities for building a digital franc. “One could imagine a direct account with the National Bank. Not that we want to do that, but that would be …