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Digital Yuan Gets Smart: Smart Contracts Now Available on Meituan App

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• China’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) — the digital yuan, or eCNY — has received upgrades giving it smart contract functionality.
• The smart contract function was launched on the Meituan app, a Chinese app offering retail and food delivery services.
• When Meituan users place an order and pay with their e-CNY wallet, a smart contract triggers and searches for keywords and purchased items in their order. If a user buys something on the list of keywords for the day, they go in the draw to win part of a prize.

China has recently seen advancements in the use of their digital yuan (eCNY). This digital currency, developed by their central bank, has seen upgrades giving it the ability to use smart contracts. This feature was unveiled on the Meituan app, a popular Chinese app offering retail and food delivery services.

When Meituan users make a purchase with their e-CNY, a smart contract is triggered that searches for keywords and purchased items in the order. If an item purchased matches the list of keywords for the day, the user is entered into a draw to win a share of a red envelope (known locally as hongbao) containing 8,888 yuan, worth a little over $1,300. This is a traditional way of gifting money around Chinese New Year as a gesture of good luck.

This development is just one of the new use cases of China’s digital yuan, which has been in the works since 2014. The currency has recently been used to buy securities, as well as make offline payments. The currency is also expected to be used in international trade, particularly in the areas of cross-border payments and foreign exchange.

China has been the leader in the development of central bank digital currencies, and the digital yuan is expected to be one of the most widely used in the world. This is likely due to its convenience, low transaction fees and fast transaction times. With these new use cases, it’s likely that the digital yuan will become even more popular and widely used in the near future.