China’s capital city will hand out about $1.5 million in a limited trial of the central bank’s digital currency, Report informs, referring to CNBC.
That marks the third major test of the digital currency under development by the People’s Bank of China. The cities of Shenzhen and Suzhou held similar experiments in the last few months.
In this trial, Beijing said it would select 50,000 from a pool of applicants to receive 200 yuan, or about $30 each, in the digital currency. Recipients can spend the money at designated offline locations or on parts of the e-commerce site JD.com during the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday.
The vouchers are valid from Feb. 10 to Feb. 17. The digital currency test is only open to those with a Chinese ID number or residence permits from Hong Kong, Macao, or Taiwan.
Unlike well-known digital currencies like bitcoin, the one under development by China’s central bank is controlled by a single power, rather than a decentralized system managed by users around the world.