The Chain Bulletin reports that the Digital Currency/Electronic Payment (DC/EP) system trial saw a total of 47.573 lottery winners receive their prizes in the city of Shenzhen, where the pilot was conducted. A total of 62.788 transactions were conducted by the winners, who were able to spend CNY 8.8 million out of the CNY 10 million allocated to the giveaway pilot.
Launched on 9 October 2020, the pilot program was a way for the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) to promote their CBDC project. The winners in the giveaway had a limited period in which they could spend their winnings, between 12 October and 18 October 2020, after which any unused amount was to be taken back. The pilot program quickly became popular in the city of Shenzhen, where around 2 million people applied to participate.
The Shenzhen authorities say that some of the winners were so interested in the project, that they topped their wallets for an additional CNY 901,000 (around USD 134,000). Other participants however did not look so optimistic, pointing out that the PBoC and the government had to do a better job of convincing consumers of the benefits of the DC/EP system.
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