After the completion of the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics in China, warnings came from US Congress members regarding the use of digital yuan in Olympic events.
As Reuters reported, Pennsylvania Senator Pat Toomey drew attention to the potential dangers posed by the use of the digital yuan in a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen. In his letter, Toomey expressed his concerns that the Chinese government could use the Olympic games to drive wider adoption of its central bank digital currency, the CBDC.
Digital yuan becoming a standard for cross-border payments could be a threat to the US
The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics has the distinction of being the first major testing ground for China’s CBDC among a large group of international visitors. Since its launch almost two years ago, transactions using digital yuan have totaled over $13 billion, with approximately 10 million merchants having activated digital wallets for CBDC by November 2021.
Stating that the use of the digital yuan by the international crowd gathered at the Olympics and the spread of the digital yuan may cause a standard in cross-border payments, Toomey noted that this situation could potentially pose a threat to US interests. The US Departments of State and Treasury were then requested to report on the number of foreign visitors using China’s digital yuan.
Speaking on the subject, Toomey noted, “The importance of remaining a leader in the global digital economy and supporting new innovations such as digital currencies is an important area of strategic competition with other countries, including China.” On the other hand, Minnesota Representative Tom Emmer also warned athletes like Toomey not to use digital yuan while in China. Emmer, who previously proposed legislation to limit the Fed’s ability to issue CBDCs, said China lives under “digital authoritarianism.”
Even before that, in July, a group of three senators; He had sent a letter to the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee claiming that the Chinese Communist Party could use the CBDC to track guest athletes both at the Games and when they returned to the US. In fact, the committee warned that US athletes should leave their phones at home in case of ‘malware’ infection, and recommended that athletes only use disposable phones while in China.
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