Huawei's Mate 40 Phone to Ship With Digital Yuan Wallet

China's digital yuan looks closer than ever to launch with the news that Huawei will be supporting the central bank digital currency (CBDC) on an upcoming range of phones.

• Announced on Huawei's Weibo channel Friday, the Mate 40 line of devices will feature a built-in hardware wallet with "hardware-level security, controllable anonymous protection, and dual offline transactions," the tech giant said.
• It's the latest sign that the CBDC, developed by the People's Bank of China, is likely to be technically ready for launch.
• In recent weeks, a public trial in the city of Shenzhen saw 10 million digital yuan given away to residents in a kind of lottery.
• Users could spend any winnings with a smartphone app at thousands of stores already set up with point-of-sale devices that can handle the digital currency.
• The Mate 40 was announced in October and will be the latest flagship from Huawei, along with the Pro and Pro Plus models, according to TechRadar.
• A release date is still unclear, but prices are expected to start at just over $1,000.
• It's also not clear if devices shipped to other regions will sport the CBDC wallet.

Also read: China’s Digital Yuan Blurs the Lines Between CBDCs and Crypto