China's cardinal banking concern digital currency is expected to farther exacerbate Macau's declining gambling revenues.

According to a Dec. 2 article from Bloomberg, junkets — Macau businesses that human activity equally middlemen to facilitate visits by China's high-roller gamblers — claim their clients are looking to other jurisdictions due to concerns the digital yuan will exist introduced to Macau'due south embattled gambling sector.

The study cites bearding sources who claim local casino operators have been approached by Macau'due south Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau to discuss the viability of denominating casino chip purchases in digital yuan rather than Hong Kong dollars, equally is before long the example.

The sources noted that pop digital payment platforms such as AliPay and WeChat are not being considered for apply in Macau's casinos, as they will not assist the cardinal regime in tracking upper-case letter flows.

All the same, a Dec. 2 statement from Macau's Authorities Information Bureau asserts that the rumored discussions concerning "the utilize of digitized RMB in gaming casinos [...] is false."

Regardless, the rumors have sent shockwaves through the territory's gambling industry, with shares in casino operator Milky way Entertainment Group and Macau's largest junket operator Suncity Group Holdings each falling by roughly iii% on the same day.

The introduction of the digital yuan into Macau'south casinos would threaten the junkets industry, which garners meaning revenue from providing Hong Kong dollar conversion and credit services. With Macau's acquirement falling by $27 billion amidst the pandemic, junkets are already feeling the pain.

China's key banking concern would likewise gain greater insight into the sources of the capital flowing into Macau'southward gambling industry, which Bloomberg'southward sources claim may scare off many loftier-rollers — some of who take previously been linked to the Chinese shadow banking system. Junket service provider Eric Leong told Bloomberg:

"If the water is likewise clean, there'll be no fish. The big gamblers will become away if casinos demand to be that transparent."

Last month, Cointelegraph reported that China'south digital yuan would be trialed in the Suzhou district for the "Double 12" shopping event on Dec. 12. The shopping festival, which is hosted past e-commerce behemoth Alibaba, volition meet participants gifted $200 worth of digital RMB via a lottery to spend during the day. The consequence will as well trial the CBDC wallet's "offline" and "touch on" functionalities.

The pilot follows successful trials of the CBDC in Shenzhen that saw $1.five million worth of digital yuan distributed via a lottery to roughly 50,000 Luohu commune residents to spend at more than 3,000 merchants in Oct.