First Eight Institutions to Get China’s Digital Currency?

Forbes recently reported that the People’s Bank of China is giving its first round of central bank digital currency to Alibaba, Tencent, five banking organizations and one unknown entity.

Paul Schulte who previously worked as head of the China Construction Bank and an anonymous individual identified as part of China’s CBDC project were the sources.

The first beneficiaries of China’s CBDC are Alibaba, Tencent, China Construction Bank, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the Bank of China, the Agricultural Bank of China and Chinese banking association Union Pay. Paul Schulte said on the report.

The anonymous source reported that these seven entities will be among the first to receive China’s CBDC, which they are calling DC/EP an abbreviation for Digital Currency/Electronic Payments. However, there are eighth unnamed beneficiaries who will also join this cohort of DC/EP handouts. It was also reported that the technology was ready to ship and that the DC/EP could roll out as early as Nov. 11.

These seven institutions will be responsible for distributing the DC/EP tokens to China’s citizens and others participating in business with the renminbi, China’s official fiat money as per the unnamed source. It was also said that China’s central bank is keen on circulating the DC/EP tokens to buyers in the United States too, via correspondent banks, but not immediately.