Digital Yuan Hardware Wallets

[ChiBitCTy]

As a collector I’ve been trying to get my hands on their first issued blue wallet card. I recently came across an article and found out there’s a few now.

I think these will be hard to find if you’re not a Chinese citizen with a bank account.

Anyone from China able to chime in with info would be awesome!

https://en.pingwest.com/a/8347









(@mods hope this is okay to post here. Not btc related but I feel like it’s a cool insight to another side of hardware wallets )

[bitmover]

Those hardware wallets that look like cards are veery beautiful.

This one reminds of the old razor wallet
 

[satscraper]

It is hard for me to consider that card as a hardware wallet. One has not to blur the line between hardware  devices with distinctive hallmarks, that allow to keep safely  and manage their digital stash, and bank cards. The presented piece of plastic is rather a card  that allows  access to bank account nominated in digital  Yuan than real McCoy.

[witcher_sense]

It is hard for me to consider that card as a hardware wallet. One has not to blur the line between hardware  devices with distinctive hallmarks, that allow to keep safely  and manage their digital stash, and bank cards. The presented piece of plastic is rather a card  that allows  access to bank account nominated in digital  Yuan than real McCoy.

It seems that things with hardware wallets are getting worse and worse because hardware wallets are supposed to protect one's keys from unauthorized access, but first things first, the user should establish ownership over currency before he has natural rights to defend it. In the case of fiat currency in general and digital yuan in particular, one can assume with certainty that the only entity that really owns it is the government or central bank, to be more precise. This entity can censor all your digital transactions and all your accounts, regardless of where these things are located. If you keep it under the mattress on something called a 'hardware wallet' - good for you, but in this case, you are not a real owner: you just have been given a temporary permit to transact with it.

[satscraper]

It is hard for me to consider that card as a hardware wallet. One has not to blur the line between hardware  devices with distinctive hallmarks, that allow to keep safely  and manage their digital stash, and bank cards. The presented piece of plastic is rather a card  that allows  access to bank account nominated in digital  Yuan than real McCoy.

It seems that things with hardware wallets are getting worse and worse because hardware wallets are supposed to protect one's keys from unauthorized access, but first things first, the user should establish ownership over currency before he has natural rights to defend it. In the case of fiat currency in general and digital yuan in particular, one can assume with certainty that the only entity that really owns it is the government or central bank, to be more precise. This entity can censor all your digital transactions and all your accounts, regardless of where these things are located. If you keep it under the mattress on something called a 'hardware wallet' - good for you, but in this case, you are not a real owner: you just have been given a temporary permit to transact with it.

Nope, things with real hardware wallets  are getting better and better. New devices like Passport and ColdCard MK4 / Q1 appear , making obsolete the old ones, like Ledger, which brought discredit upon themself.

It appears you are mixing hardware wallets with ordinary bank cards that are  bound to either fiat or digital currencies. They are not the same things.

[SFR10]

I think these will be hard to find if you’re not a Chinese citizen with a bank account.

And to add salt to the wound, it appears that some of them might only exist in specific branches:

• Driven by the Xiongan New Area Party Working Committee Management Committee and the Shijiazhuang Central Branch of the People's Bank of China, the Hebei Xiongan Branch of the Agricultural Bank of China completed the research and development and production of the first digital RMB "hardware wallet".

https://i.ibb.co/0hfrB7P/IMG-5928.jpg

https://www.ledgerinsights.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/digital-yuan-esecucard.jpg

The closest thing I could find to this was the following "Display Smart Card" from the same brand.
^{- I'm still not sure where you can get your hands on one of these, but you can at least see the specs.}

https://i.ibb.co/wN4swNx/IMG-5914.jpg

On the following page, there's a short video that shows how it works: Link
From what I've gathered, most of them act as smart cards that are targeted toward those who either don't have a phone or those who prefer not to use their mobile devices at the checkout counter.

[m2017]

For complete “happiness”, all that remains is to engrave the owner’s first and last name on this wallet, as well as link biometric data and DNA to this card in order to “make life easier” for the bank. Wait, this data will probably be collected when issuing/purchasing a yuan wallet-card, because the developer is Postal Savings Bank of China.

From a technical point of view, what is inside these wallets? But who cares? All the same, the owners of these wallets will not be the full owners of the contents of it, because banks will be able to freeze and block yuan accounts without unnecessary difficulties.

[ChiBitCTy]

I appreciate all the engagement here with this.  Again, I know the digital yuan is technically not a real cryptocurrency because it's centralized like a mofo, of course the Chinese government is about as bad as it gets when in comes to this type of stuff..but I thought it was an interesting look in to how their "crypto coin" works and what wallets they are using.

I fear that I'll never be able to acquire one of these things since they seem to all be bank issues/containing name etc.  But who knows.

[dkbit98]

As a collector I’ve been trying to get my hands on their first issued blue wallet card. I recently came across an article and found out there’s a few now.

I personally wouldn't waste any money on this and support this terrible idea of having fake hardware wallets for CBDC junk  
Even if this is only meant to be a collectible item, this is indirectly supporting digital fiat currencies, CBDC and China, and I don't want to do that.
Now there was one interesting old card with screen that worked in western world few decades ago, this could be considered similar like hardware wallet, but I can't remember exact name for this card right now.

EDIT:
Found it!
It was Mondex smart card electronic cash system, that was later purchased by Mastercard.
Now this would be interesting collectibles item
Familiar logo?



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mondex

Time travel Mondex related videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLOZAk4mKTk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cySU2vwQiKo

[Pmalek]

I see no sense in creating something that is supposed to function as a hardware wallet for a programmable and centrally-controlled digital currency based on social points. Your purchasing ability is determined based on if you are a good boy or naughty criticizer of the government. That fact doesn't change regardless of the mechanism of transacting with such coins.

[Hispo]

I see no sense in creating something that is supposed to function as a hardware wallet for a programmable and centrally-controlled digital currency based on social points. Your purchasing ability is determined based on if you are a good boy or naughty criticizer of the government. That fact doesn't change regardless of the mechanism of transacting with such coins.

I was not even expecting to see the Chinese Government issuing any new hardware for their citizens to hold their centralized currency. To me it does not make sense for other reasons: if someone is a extremely good boy in China then it is logical that person would like to secure their Yuans using hardware, because hackers exist everywhere so do scams. But the digital Yuan does not use a decentralized Ledger, which means people in reality are not the sole holder of their private cryptographic keys, obviously the bank of China has a master key or a copy of all keys in existence, unlike actual decentralized coins.

If a Chinese citizen loses their keys, would not be able to just request a new copy from the bank or go through a recovery process? 

[m2017]

I was not even expecting to see the Chinese Government issuing any new hardware for their citizens to hold their centralized currency.

Why is this needed for digital Yyuan? The Chinese government is thus trying to create the illusion for its citizens that they “own” digital yuan if they have a wallet.

To me it does not make sense for other reasons: if someone is a extremely good boy in China then it is logical that person would like to secure their Yuans using hardware, because hackers exist everywhere so do scams.

It’s not hackers and scammers that need to be feared in China, but the creators and regulators of the digital yuan. This CBDC has already tested such “curious” functions as a “timer for using” the digital yuan, for example. Will there be a digital yuan hardware wallet capable of protecting against the Chinese government?

But the digital Yuan does not use a decentralized Ledger, which means people in reality are not the sole holder of their private cryptographic keys, obviously the bank of China has a master key or a copy of all keys in existence, unlike actual decentralized coins.

This CBDC has nothing to do with decentralization and the "ultimate" holder of these digital coins is the bank of China and the government distributing and controlling it.

If a Chinese citizen loses their keys, would not be able to just request a new copy from the bank or go through a recovery process? 

For some reason I thought that it would have to happen this way. I am absolutely sure that the recovery function will be “sewn into” the digital yuan, which will once again confirm the centralization of this entire new-fangled financial system.

[Pmalek]

If a Chinese citizen loses their keys, would not be able to just request a new copy from the bank or go through a recovery process? 

Government-issued currency transactions don't have a finality like bitcoin. A confirmed bitcoin transaction can't be reverted or cancelled. CBDCs, just like traditional fiat, will come with a chargeback option that financial institutions can use in case of problems. So, if you get hacked, lose access, or misplace your cards, a call to the bank will fix that.

[joniboini]

If a Chinese citizen loses their keys, would not be able to just request a new copy from the bank or go through a recovery process? 

I think it is easier to imagine this as a debit card or something similar. The word hardware wallet is misused here imo, like what has been mentioned above. They'll just issue a new one and block the old one if that is necessary. There will be no seeds or keys, just a PIN or something similar to remember. If anything, I think it will just replace traditional credit cards so people can manage their fiat and digital yuan or whatever currency they have. CMIIW.