China Pressuring US Firms to Accept Digital Yuan at the Beijing Olympics in 2022

One of the world’s largest retail restaurant chains, McDonald’s as well as other American firms including Nike and Visa are reportedly being pressured by China to accept digital yuan payments ahead of the Beijing Winter Olympics scheduled for early next year. 

According to the Financial Times, citing people familiar with the matter, US companies have been pressured into installing systems that will aid in accepting the digital yuan. At present, McDonald’s accepts the country’s Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), also known as the Digital Renminbi (e-CNY) at about 270 of its locations in the nation. This figure, according to insiders, is not enough as the government wants the fast-food retailer to expand the service to several of its other locations in the country.

“I always assumed large US firms would be put under pressure to provide weight to the digital renminbi, because most large retailers will be put under pressure and American firms won’t be exempted,” Darrell Duffie a co-head of a e-renminbi project run by Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, told the FT. 

China is well ahead of its peers in its pursuit of a fully functional CBDC. The Asian giant has commenced a series of trials to ensure that the e-CNY is ready for use by foreign athletes that will be enlisted to participate in the Olympic games. The purported pressure on the US firms is a move to drive the acceptance of its CBDC amongst all stakeholders of interest.

China and the Digital Yuan Pursuit: Stumping Out Crypto Competition

China has been developing its digital yuan for a few years now, and over the course of that time, the country has always maintained some anti-Bitcoin/cryptocurrency policies. There was a dramatic turn this year as the Chinese government cracked down on cryptocurrency activities including mining and financial transactions.

Today, cryptocurrency exchanges are gradually suspending their services in Mainland China. The government’s goal is apparently clear, and it is to stump all competitions that the digital renminbi might face upon launch. 

Since the Chinese crackdown, Bitcoin has retested a new All-Time High at $66,000, a move that implies a stump in relevance in China is not reflective of the perception of the digital currency in other nations.