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China’s anticipated central bank digital currency (CBDC) may be closer to its launch, as per a screenshot circulating the internet. While testing should be entirely confidential, the leaked photo is hinting the test version of a mobile app developed by a large state-owned bank.
An App For China’s CBDC
Information from a few weeks ago indicated that the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) had finished the development processes on its CBDC. As Cryptopotato reported, PBoC and all of the associates on the project were already working on receiving proper legislation.
While some speculated that those are merely rumors, new local report says otherwise. It states that the Agricultural Bank of China, one of the largest state-owned banks in the country, has developed a test version of a mobile app linked to the CBDC.
The report based its findings on an alleged screenshot of the user interface of the app. In the past 24 hours, the image has been circulating the internet and especially on Chinese social media.
Per an undisclosed source, several state-owned banks have been testing the sovereign digital currency for months now, despite the delay prompted by the COVID-19 outbreak.
The same source has confirmed the screenshot’s nature, saying, “this leak offers the first look into what China’s digital currency may look like for the general public.”
However, he also explained that all testing is “supposed to be confidential at this stage.”
Neither the nation’s central bank nor the Agricultural Bank of China has released any details on the exact purpose of the app at the time of this writing.
The App’s Features
Despite the lacking confirmation from the banks behind the CBDC, the report outlined several basic functions noticeable from the screenshot. For starters, the app appears to be operating similarly to other online payment platforms such as Alibaba’s Alipay and Tencent’s WeChat Pay.
It also illustrates a feature called “touch and touch.” It allows two people utilizing the app at the same time to simply touch their mobile devices and to execute a money transfer immediately.
The test version of the app doesn’t have any additional add-ons popular amongst Chinese online payment services. Those include the ability to buy travel and entertainment tickets, pay utility bills, and even borrow small amounts of money.
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