The Central Bank Digital Money is about to be released, and related enterprises in the industry chain are ready.

Recently, the Central Bank emphasized the need to advance the research and development of legal Digital Money, and the Digital Money sector subsequently saw a surge. Industry insiders generally believe that the Central Bank Digital Money may accelerate its launch after the pandemic, initially piloting among a few large banks.

The introduction of Digital Money will have multiple impacts on the banking industry, including the addition of new systems, core system renovations, and hardware upgrades. At the same time, personal terminals and POS machines may also need to be updated. Furthermore, Digital Money will promote the adoption of electronic bills, and encryption technology will play an important role throughout the entire industry chain.

It is reported that the People's Bank of China may have completed the basic functional development of its sovereign digital currency and is currently formulating relevant regulations. So far, the Central Bank Digital Money Research Institute has obtained 76 relevant patents, and if we include the patents under review, the total reaches 86.

It is worth noting that since the end of 2019, the research institute has announced several key patents related to the recovery, issuance, circulation, and generation of Digital Money quotas. This indicates that from the Central Bank level, the technical preparations for the issuance of the digital renminbi may already be in place.

However, the successful launch of Digital Money requires not only the efforts of the Central Bank but also the cooperation of relevant institutions in the issuance, distribution, and circulation stages. Patent searches have revealed that a certain payment platform and a large state-owned bank have applied for numerous patents in the field of Digital Money in recent years, becoming the main driving force behind the implementation of the digital yuan.

In terms of patent evolution, the Central Bank Digital Currency Research Institute has been at the forefront, while a certain large state-owned bank is also accelerating its pace. Since the middle of 2019, the research and development of digital renminbi has significantly sped up. A certain payment platform also announced multiple patents related to digital money at the beginning of this year, covering various aspects such as issuance, transaction records, and digital wallets.

A large state-owned bank has made breakthrough progress in key technologies such as offline payments for Digital Money. In addition, its developed merchant acquiring system has also cleared obstacles for the widespread application of Digital Money.

In addition to the institutions directly involved, other large enterprises are also actively laying out in the blockchain field, establishing a foundation for the promotion of Digital Money. Several large banks and telecom operators have explored related technologies. Some technology companies have also collaborated with the Central Bank to provide technical support for Digital Money.

It is worth noting that although blockchain technology initially inspired the concept of Central Bank Digital Currency, it does not seem to be the only option currently. The Central Bank has stated that it does not predefine the technological path, and other technical solutions are also being considered. This viewpoint aligns with the stance of the Bank of England.

However, industry experts point out that the current digital money research and development plans may not have fully leveraged the distributed operational advantages under Central Bank control. In the future, it may be necessary to adjust the perspective to achieve the goal of "centralized control and distributed operation."

With the advancement of various countries' digital money plans, research on related technologies is also deepening, involving multiple aspects such as privacy protection, data security, and transaction performance. It is foreseeable that as the release date approaches, the competition and cooperation in the digital money industry chain will become more intense.