South Korean retailers are open to adopting the digital yuan

South Korean media have suggested that local retailers are likely to start accepting Chinese digital yuan. The coronavirus pendemic is beginning to pass, and South Korea [...] https://www.pinterest.com/pin/1085437947660215829/

South Korean media have suggested that local retailers are likely to start accepting Chinese digital yuan. The coronavirus pendemic is beginning to die down, with more and more Chinese tourists coming to South Korea. According to Yonhap news agency, many vendors are considering introducing payments in digital yuan due to the slowdown in the tourism industry. Reaping the benefits of Chinese tourism According to the report, in Seoul's Myeongdong district, some stores are accepting payments through the Chinese app Alipay, thereby increasing the interest of Chinese customers. Reports show that the COVID-19 crisis has caused a loss of nearly $2 billion in tourism revenue. Partly because of this very reason, merchants have started to consider introducing payments in digital yuan once it is officially launched. The risks of adopting digital yuan in a foreign country The author of an article posted on Yonhap, however, warned against the introduction of such a payment method. He cited privacy issues and oversight by Chinese authorities: "If people from other countries widely use 'digital yuan,' centrally managed by the People's Bank of China, it is likely that the use will be controlled by Chinese authorities." He added that China's digital currency has a "completely different philosophical and technological base than the blockchain technology on which Bitcoin is based." These concerns are also shared by other experts such as Joel Telpner, an attorney and advisor to the Marshall Islands digital sovereign currency project. Telpner explained what motivates countries like China to create a sovereign digital currency: "I think the motivation is not the same in all countries. I look at China a little differently than other countries. I think what motivates China to create its own digital currency is to make sure that they are able to maintain control over payments and money flows. China can do that by creating a digital currency that has a built-in identifier that transmits information to the Chinese government and also becomes a surveillance tool, unfortunately." How is the digital yuan project developing? On April 15, Cointelegraph posted that screenshots of an alleged pilot version of a wallet for storing digital yuan were circulating on social media. It was suggested that the app was being tested in four Chinese cities. On May 6, former People's Bank of China Governor Li Lihui said that the launch of the digital yuan could actually replace cash if the necessary conditions are met. Tags China digital yuan South Korea