JD.Com Says It's Accepting China's Digital Yuan for Latest Lottery

Chinese e-commerce firm JD.Com says it has become the first online platform to accept the nation's central bank digital currency (CBDC).

• As reported by Reuters on Saturday, JD Digits – the company's digital technology arm – will accept the digital yuan at its online shopping center during the second mass giveaway of the token in the city of Suzhou.
• CoinDesk previously reported the event, a kind of lottery, will allow the city's residents to apply to win 200 digital yuan as happened with the first such giveaway in Shenzhen in October.
• According to Reuters, there will be a total of 10,000 winners this time around who will be able to spend the tokens at stores that are set up with point-of-sales technology that can handle the CBDC.
• The Suzhou lottery kicks of on Dec. 12 – a shopping festival known as "Double 12" – and is said to be trialing functionality of the token including offline (phone-to-phone) payments.
• Seemingly preparing the ground for the launch of the CBDC, China’s central bank proposed a banking law in October, recognizing the renminbi in both physical and digital form, and outlawing all third-party rivals. This would likely be a blow to cryptocurrencies like Tether's yuan stablecoin if passed.
• Read more: Proposed Chinese Law Outlaws All Yuan-Pegged Tokens – Except for Its CBDC