The city of Shenzhen is planning yet another $3 million digital currency test

The Chinese city of Shenzhen is seeking to boost awareness and use of digital currency by giving 20 million yuan (over $3 million) away to its citizens, according to the Chinese news publication Xinhuanet.

Shenzhen residents can receive 200 yuan worth of digital currency in “red envelopes” through a lottery, mirroring past trial runs. This initiative represents the third of its kind.

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Eligible participants who can register for the random drawing include merchants and employees of firms who will be present in the city during the Spring Festival. The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) issued the digital yuan for this lottery, which Xinhuanet reports opened on Wednesday. 

Shenzhen has held two prior rounds of raffled red envelopes, once in October 2020 for 10 million yuan ($1.5 million USD) and in January for $3 million.

The Chinese city of Suzhou also held a digital yuan lottery for $3 million in December 2020, which included the participation of three major Chinese internet firms. 

About Author

MK Manoylov has been a reporter for The Block since 2020 — joining just before bitcoin surpassed $20,000 for the first time. Since then, MK has written nearly 1,000 articles for the publication, covering any and all crypto news but with a penchant toward NFT, metaverse, web3 gaming, funding, crime, hack and crypto ecosystem stories. MK holds a graduate degree from New York University's Science, Health and Environmental Reporting Program (SHERP) and has also covered health topics for WebMD and Insider. You can follow MK on X @MManoylov and on LinkedIn.