#ChinaShapesCryptoRules

✨e-CNY is the world's largest-scale and most widely used central bank digital currency (CBDC) project, issued by the People's Bank of China (PBOC). With the new governance framework that came into effect at the beginning of 2026, it transitioned from the "digital cash" era to the "digital deposit money" era, becoming a world first in many respects.
👉Key Technical and Legal Features
Issuance and Support:
🔹It is entirely issued by the PBOC and backed by physical yuan (CNY) at a 1:1 ratio. It is a legal tender and is positioned as a cash (M0) substitute.
🔹Two-tier system:
PBOC → Commercial banks and authorized payment institutions → End-user
The PBOC does not distribute directly to the public; distribution and wallet services are carried out through commercial banks.
🔹Major innovation from 2026 onwards: Interest earnings
e-CNY balances held in commercial bank wallets earn deposit interest (demand depends on deposit interest rates).
This feature is a world first, bringing e-CNY closer to a savings instrument and increasing its competitiveness with private platforms such as Alipay/WeChat Pay.
🔹Balances are covered by deposit insurance and integrated into banks' balance sheet management and reserve requirement systems. ✨Hybrid Technical Architecture
Account-based system + blockchain/distributed ledger technology (DLT) compatibility
Both software and hardware wallets are supported
Double-offline payment capability
🔥One of the strongest features: Money transfer via NFC or QR code without internet
🔸Programmable Money
🔸Conditions can be defined for payments through smart contracts:
🔸Use of funds for a specific purpose (e.g., education, health, social assistance, supply chain finance)
🔸Time-limited spending
🔸Automatic payment/deduction
Sensitive use cases in areas such as the “Big Five financial articles” (tech finance, green finance, inclusive finance, aged care, digital transformation)
🔥 Government-supervised and enforceable programmability (not fully open source, centrally controlled)
Privacy and Anonymity: Controlled Anonymity (Controllable Anonymity)
Small-value transactions are relatively anonymous.
Large-value transactions and suspicious activities are fully traceable.
Full transparency and retrospective tracing capabilities for the PBOC and law enforcement agencies
🔥 The goal is to achieve a balance of “sufficient anonymity + prevention of illegal activities”.
🔹Scale and Usage Statistics (data from late 2025 to early 2026)
🔹More than 3.4 billion transactions
🔹Approximately 16.7–17 trillion yuan (~2.3–2.4 trillion USD) cumulative transaction volume
2.3 billion personal wallets, millions of corporate wallets
🔹Widely used in retail, tourism, education, healthcare, public services, payroll, social assistance, and cross-border payments
🌐Cross-Border Usage
Increasing volume through platforms like mBridge (transaction volume exceeding 55 billion USD reported at the beginning of 2026)
RMB as an alternative instrument in internationalization and trade settlement It is being positioned.
✨e-CNY is designed as a digital currency with a focus on centralized control, scalability, programmability, and government oversight. With the interest rate and deposit integration initiative in 2026, it aims to both accelerate adoption in the domestic market and increase the attractiveness of the RMB globally.