China's Digital Yuan Pilot Scope to Be Limited: Times

China will likely limit the scope of the digital yuan pilot release until it shows mature acceptance in areas including Shenzhen, Chengdu, Suzhou and Xiong'an, as well as the Winter Olympics in Beijing in 2022, the Securities Times said in a front-page comment on Tuesday. While the details of the digital currency haven't been released, the newspaper speculated that users will likely access it through an application launched by the central bank, similar to current digital payments. The biggest concern is how the digital currency may disrupt the current central bank-commercial bank structure, as registering through the PBOC's digital currency app could mean opening a bank account directly with the PBOC. This may impact the central bank's balance sheet and the effectiveness of monetary policy transmission, the newspaper said.