JD.com, one of China’s largest online retailers, will accept the country’s digital yuan CBDC as a means of payment, according to a Reuters report published on Dec. 5.

• JD.com, an online mall, will support the CBDC as China prepare for its shopping season; the release coincides with “Double 12”, a shopping day which occurs on Dec. 12 and is similar to Black Friday
• China is also about to start a new pilot program alongside a $31 million lottery program in the city of Suzhou, which will the testing of a new feature that allows person-to-person transfers 
• The latest pilot and lottery scheme follows a similar program that was conducted in Oct. 2020, which saw over $300 million in transactions take place in a month
• Authorities are moving from payments at shops and restaurants to broader use cases, including taxes, utilities and person-to-person payments 
• China hopes to ready a full payments system by the 2022 Olympics; the CBDC is expected to be tested in 28 cities, with reports saying that the capital of Beijing could be next
• Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz also commented on the development, saying that China is “whupping the US”
• Goldman Sachs has also predicted that the the digital yuan would have 1 billion users by 2030