China’s currency scores a win during the Olympics

The People’s Bank of China is making its own history at the Olympics: first out of the gate with a digital currency.

It’s a record PBOC Governor Yi Gang’s team isn’t taking lightly. Though Covid-19 greatly limited attendance, those on hand can use special ATMs at Olympics venues. Foreigners can swap their banknotes into e-CNY, and experience the morphing of science fiction into financial fact.

Yet this week also sees the PBOC making history in another respect: the yuan’s fast-increasing role in the global payments race. Payments using yuan increased to a record 3.2% of global market share, according to the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications, or SWIFT.