According to data obtained from local news outlet Sohu.com, the Shenzhen Chamber of Commerce has registered more than 2.6 million signups for its latest digital yuan, or e-CNY, airdrop. Two months earlier, the city of Shenzhen announced it would transfer 30 million of the central bank’s e-CNY digital currency, or CBDC, to local residents to boost consumer spending as a recovery measure from the country’s strict coronavirus lockdown. Users who received the airdrops through a random lottery selection could then spend the e-CNY vouchers at various participating merchant terminals on Meituan, one of China’s leading e-commerce platforms. The event, which...