{"id":2037,"date":"2025-12-29T11:20:40","date_gmt":"2025-12-29T16:20:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/?p=2037"},"modified":"2025-12-29T11:20:42","modified_gmt":"2025-12-29T16:20:42","slug":"digital-yuan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/digital-yuan\/","title":{"rendered":"China\u2019s Digital Yuan to Pay Interest Starting 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"gb-block-image gb-block-image-5b12cf9d\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"628\" class=\"gb-image gb-image-5b12cf9d\" src=\"https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Untitled-design-2025-12-29T214823.952.webp\" alt=\"China\u2019s Digital Yuan to Pay Interest Starting 2026\" title=\"Untitled design - 2025-12-29T214823.952\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Untitled-design-2025-12-29T214823.952.webp 1200w, https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Untitled-design-2025-12-29T214823.952-300x157.webp 300w, https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Untitled-design-2025-12-29T214823.952-768x402.webp 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">China is preparing a major upgrade to its digital currency. Beginning Jan. 1, 2026, banks will be allowed to pay interest on<a href=\"https:\/\/www.currencytransfer.com\/blog\/expert-analysis\/what-is-the-digital-yuan\" target=\"_blank\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.currencytransfer.com\/blog\/expert-analysis\/what-is-the-digital-yuan\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> digital yuan wallets<\/a>, a move that shifts the e-CNY from a digital version of cash into a full-fledged deposit currency.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The change was announced by the People\u2019s Bank of China (PBOC) and detailed by Deputy Governor Lu Lei in an article published in <em>Financial News<\/em>, a state-run newspaper. According to Lu, the new framework marks the next phase in the digital yuan\u2019s evolution after nearly a decade of pilot programs and real-world testing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Until now, the digital yuan has functioned largely like electronic cash\u2014useful for payments, but without interest or many of the features associated with traditional bank deposits. That will soon change. Under the new rules, verified digital yuan wallets will be eligible to earn interest, with rates set through the same self-regulatory mechanisms banks already use for conventional deposits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Just as importantly, digital yuan balances will be covered by China\u2019s national deposit insurance system. This means users will enjoy the same level of protection they get with regular bank deposits, a step that could make the e-CNY more appealing to everyday consumers and businesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For banks, the shift brings added flexibility. The PBOC said lenders will be able to manage digital yuan balances as part of their normal asset-liability operations, rather than treating them as a separate or limited-use product. At the same time, non-bank payment firms face stricter rules. These companies will be required to hold 100% reserves in digital yuan, following the same standards applied to customer reserve funds today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>China has struggled at times to drive widespread adoption of the digital yuan, even though official trials began as early as 2019. While the e-CNY is often described by industry observers as one of the most technologically advanced central bank digital currencies in the world, it still competes with deeply entrenched mobile payment giants like WeChat Pay and Alipay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Even so, usage has steadily grown. By November 2025, the digital yuan had processed a total of 3.48 billion transactions, according to official data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Beijing is also looking beyond domestic use. In the week leading up to the announcement, the central bank reiterated its plans to expand cross-border applications of the digital yuan. New pilot projects are planned with Singapore, while broader initiatives are in the works with Thailand, Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These efforts tie into China\u2019s wider ambitions for the e-CNY on the global stage. In September, the PBOC opened the International Operations Center for the digital yuan in Shanghai, aiming to boost the currency\u2019s international reach and influence within global financial systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With interest payments, deposit insurance, and expanded cross-border pilots on the horizon, China\u2019s digital yuan is entering a new phase\u2014one that could reshape how the world\u2019s second-largest economy uses and promotes digital money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Also Read:\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/tokenized\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/tokenized\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Tokenized Silver Trading Explodes as Prices Surge Past $80<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>China is preparing a major upgrade to its digital currency. Beginning Jan. 1, 2026, banks will be allowed to pay &#8230; <\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more-container\"><a title=\"China\u2019s Digital Yuan to Pay Interest Starting 2026\" class=\"read-more button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/digital-yuan\/#more-2037\" aria-label=\"Read more about China\u2019s Digital Yuan to Pay Interest Starting 2026\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2038,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[2668,2664,2662,2667,2663,2669,2666,2660,2665,2661],"class_list":["post-2037","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cryptocurrency","tag-china-cbdc-cross-border-payments","tag-china-central-bank-digital-currency-news","tag-china-digital-yuan-2026-update","tag-digital-yuan-deposit-insurance-coverage","tag-digital-yuan-interest-bearing-deposits","tag-digital-yuan-transaction-growth-statistics","tag-digital-yuan-vs-wechat-pay-alipay","tag-e-cny-interest-paying-wallets","tag-e-cny-international-pilot-projects","tag-peoples-bank-of-china-digital-currency-plan","resize-featured-image"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Untitled-design-2025-12-29T214823.952.webp","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2037","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2037"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2037\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2039,"href":"https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2037\/revisions\/2039"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2038"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2037"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2037"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2037"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<!-- This website is optimized by Airlift. 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