The People's Bank of China has significantly expanded the number of banks participating in the digital yuan (e-CNY) system since the beginning of 2026. Instead of 10 banks at the start of the year, there are now 30 banks involved, with eight joining this week, according to CoinDesk.
New participants include Ping An Bank, Hengfeng Bank, Bank of Shanghai, and Bank of Hangzhou. They will begin providing e-CNY services after completing operational and technical preparatory work. This is the second expansion of the system in 2026; in April, another 12 financial institutions joined.
The digital yuan is a central bank digital currency (CBDC) and, unlike decentralized cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, is issued and controlled by the People's Bank of China. Its value is linked to the national currency, the yuan.
China operates a two-tier CBDC system. Authorized banks allow customers to open personal and corporate digital wallets, exchange digital yuan, and make payments, as well as conduct customer verifications as part of anti-money laundering efforts. The central bank, in turn, manages the core infrastructure of the system and the issuance of e-CNY.
As of November 2025, there had been 3.48 billion transactions using the digital yuan in China, totaling 16.7 trillion yuan or about 2.5 trillion dollars. The People's Bank of China has stated that it will continue to increase the number of operators in the system.
The expansion of the system is part of a broad reform that came into effect in January. Under the new rules, e-CNY held in commercial banks' digital wallets is considered a deposit obligation of the banks. Banks are required to pay interest on this, and the balances are included in the deposit insurance system.
