Huawei Backs the Digital Yuan

The upcoming range of Huawei smartphones will have digital yuan wallets, the phone manufacturer has announced on Oct 30.

Mate 40 Smartphones Have Digital Yuan Wallets

Through its Weibo channel, the Shenzhen-based tech giant said the central bank-backed currency (CBDC) wallet on their Mate 40 series will be secure, private, and support offline transactions. 

The Huawei Mate 40 range of phones was announced on Oct 22. They won’t be available to clients in the United States. It is also not clear at the time of writing whether smartphones shipped to other regions except China will support the digital yuan wallets.

Their friction with the United States authorities means these new phones lack Google and its services. This follows a ban in May 2019 that prohibits US-companies, including Google, from collaborating with Huawei. 

According to Huawei, there are three models of the Huawei Mate 40. The Mate 40, Mate 40 Pro Plus, and Huawei Mate 40 RS will retail for €899, €1,399, and €2,295, respectively. Each will have a curved screen, a Space Ring Design for cameras at the back, and a cut-off camera at the front. Excerpt the Mate 40, the rest will be water-resistant.

The Digital Yuan

Presently, digital yuan is at an advanced stage than any other CBDC in the world. Advocated by the PBoC–the Chinese central bank, the digitized version of the yuan is meant to supplement the cash supply and assist the bank in executing its monetary policies. 

However, the Chinese government, despite the buzz around the coin and their objective of helping internationalize the yuan, won’t replace cash or popular payment applications like WeChat and Alipay. 

Also, the coin is not a cryptocurrency since it is directly issued and managed by the central bank, giving it immense power especially in the management of its money supply.

In the latest marketing campaign for the digital yuan in Shenzhen, $7,500 in prizes were distributed to lucky winners according to a BTCManager report.

Over two million people participated and lucky winners could spend their red envelopes at any of the over 3,000 retail outlets in the city.