This week, the New York Times chronicled the story of the Electronic Chinese Yuan, which is further along in the development than any other major power’s CBDC, as Bitcoin continues to hover near a $50,000 valuation. The digital currency has been in the testing phase since last year, recently expanding to three major cities: Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen. Practically speaking, the Chinese digital currency is spent utilizing a smartphone, scanning a QR code provided by a banking app.

“There are multiple levels of significance here,” noted Richard Gardner, CEO of Modulus, a US-based developer of ultra-high-performance trading and surveillance technology that powers global equities, derivatives, and digital asset exchanges. “First, China is a superpower. Second, its CBDC is currently in testing. Third, any fully functional CBDC would completely annihilate arguments that digital currencies aren’t useful for every day transactions. If a country, particularly a major country, begins to move towards a national digital currency, you’re going to see cryptocurrencies mainstream in a way that, even though we’re currently in a heck of a bull market, we haven’t even begun to realize.”

“This could be the first domino to fall, so to speak. Once digital assets are mainstreamed, the infrastructure used to accept and process digital currencies will become mainstream, at least among major commercial interests. If China continues to forge ahead and fully implement this, it’s going to be a boon for cryptocurrencies across the board,” opined Gardner.

Even Janet Yellen, who has never been thought of as cryptocurrency’s greatest ally, noted that an American CBDC “could result in faster, safer and cheaper payments.” Notably, the Chinese digital currency does not utilize blockchain technology, according to officials from the People’s Bank of China.

“This is about far more than just how folks make transactions,” noted Gardner. “Ultimately, digital currencies and would allow unbanked populations greater access to capital. In the case of CBDCs, it would give governments much greater power over information, too. But, most of all, developing and rolling out a digital currency — being the first major power to accomplish that, it really could be akin to a 21st Century Race to Space. Even putting digital assets aside for a moment, the power of blockchain technology is so great, it has the power to completely disrupt so many industries, it could be the most radical societal development since the internet.”

Modulus is known throughout the financial technology segment as a leader in the development of ultra-high frequency trading systems and blockchain technologies. Over the past twenty years, the company has built technology for the world’s most notable exchanges, with a client list which includes NASDAQ, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Barclays, Siemens, Shell, Yahoo!, Microsoft, Cornell University, and the University of Chicago.