Macau: Discussing CBDC as official currency

In the Chinese special administrative region of Macau, a CBDC is under discussion as the official currency. The legislator is working on a regulation that will put the digital central bank currency into circulation with an acceptance obligation.

Macau: Will the digital pataca follow?

As a Chinese special administrative region, Macau has its own currency, the pataca. According to reports from Chinanews , the city-state legislature passed an initial decree declaring a CBDC to be the official currency of the country.

In order for the law to become valid, it must first go through other instances of legislation, the report states. It would therefore be possible to introduce a digital pataca.

The Chinese state as a whole has already introduced its own CBDC. As an example of excessive state control, the digital yuan is now probably the best-known digital central bank currency.

However, it is unclear whether Macau will design a completely independent CBDC. Finally, the plan is to improve the connection to the People’s Republic of China and Hong Kong.Continue.

Obligation to accept the CBDC is expected

Part of the new law is an acceptance obligation. As in many other countries, the status of an official currency in Macau goes hand in hand with an obligation to accept it. Accordingly, every resident is obliged to accept payments with the CBDC.

People who refuse to accept it face fines of around 120 to 1,200 Swiss francs. Macau could thus surpass the status of mainland China. In the People’s Republic, the e-yuan is only in a test phase.

In June, Jamaica became the first country in the world to declare the state digital currency its official means of payment. The CBDC there is called Jam-Dex .

CBDC form the digital opposite of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. As state control and monitoring instruments, they are met with a great deal of rejection in the crypto scene. Dozens of countries around the world are working on their own CBDC.

The EU is currently working on the digital euro, while the USA is still in a discovery phase. A well -known FED president recently spoke critically about the digital central bank money and recognizes the same problems as the crypto scene. In Switzerland, a CBDC is ruled out, at least for the time being. The Swiss Central Bank is convinced that the disadvantages outweigh the advantages.

The Basel-based Bank for International Settlements , which is currently also testing a CBDC with the support of several central banks, sees things differently.