Rumor: Starbucks and McDonald’s Test China’s Digital Currency

Rumors arose at the same time that China was about to conduct a practical test of its electronic yuan. According to Interchain Pulse, the promotional conference was held on April 22 in Xiong’an, a city bordering the capital Beijing. Various government agencies, crypto developers and entrepreneurs participating in the upcoming pilot program were also invited to the conference.

Rumor: Starbucks and McDonald’s Test China’s Digital Currency

This initiative is part of the Xiong’an Smart City project. Implemented from September 25, 2019, the project brings together businesses, higher education institutions, research institutes and technology companies. Board members include companies such as Huawei, Tencent, Alibaba Group, Baidu, …

The conference was therefore attended by many local government agencies, such as the office of the National Development and Innovation Commission in Xiong’an, with expertise focused on new technology industries. In addition, there was the participation of the local branch of the People’s Bank of China, the developer of the yuan cryptocurrency; the operator proposes the digital currency. The heads of Ant Financial and Tencent – the two companies that own the most popular electronic payment platforms today – Alipay and Wechat, were also noted to participate in the event.

Starbucks and McDonald’s

Finally, it is impossible not to mention the presence of companies in the retail industry, especially the food and beverage industry. This participation indicates that these will be the first companies to experiment with digital yuan. Notable names include Starbucks and McDonald’s, as well as numerous catering companies, hotels, supermarkets, bookstores and even street food stalls.

Xiong’an is a new city still under construction. The government is expected to let the city take on some of the role of the capital. Zhonghai SPV, a specialized operations unit, one of the companies participating in the conference, is in the process of building the city. Interchain Pulse reporter speculates that it is possible that the company’s employees will be the first to use the digital currency, as this is the only company that is not in the retail sector present at the event.

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Urgent implementation process

The April 22 conference confirmed previous rumors regarding the cryptocurrency being tested in Xiong’an. As Cointelegraph reported, four cities were selected for the test: Shenzhen, Chengdu, Suzhou and Xiong’an.

According to primexbt news, the try in Suzhou has a different meaning than in Xiong’an. The yuan cryptocurrency will be used to pay for transportation subsidies, and there are currently no clear details on how the authorities will use the currency.

As reported in February, the coronavirus pandemic has delayed all plans regarding the digital yuan. As China was slowly returning to normalcy, plans were quickly revived.