India’s Stance on Cryptocurrencies and Digital Currencies
The Indian government has once again expressed skepticism about cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, as it prepares to launch new digital currency initiatives supported by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). According to India’s Minister of Commerce, Piyush Goyal, the country will soon be launching a digital currency supported by the RBI, which aims to simplify transactions and enable faster and more transparent transactions than traditional banking.
In a recent round table discussion during his visit to Qatar, Goyal mentioned that the upcoming digital currency is supported by the RBI and will make transactions “easier and more efficiently” easier. The minister also reported that the new system would reduce paper consumption and be handled faster than the banking system, with the initiative being supported by blockchain technology to ensure transparency and contain illegal transactions.
Source: India’s Minister of Commerce Piyush Goyal
Crypto Assets Lack Sovereign Support
While the RBI unveiled the new project for digital currency, Goyal expressed skepticism towards cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, claiming that they “have no back-end value that guarantees a value”. The minister emphasized that India has not encouraged cryptocurrency trade and has not banned it either, stating that “we only tax it”.
Goyal’s remarks came as Bitcoin, the world’s largest crypto asset by market capitalization, reached a new all-time high of $126,000, according to Coinbase. The RBI has long been skeptical about cryptocurrencies, leading to expanded discussions about whether a complete ban on crypto transactions should be imposed in the past.
Bitcoin all-time price chart. Source: Coingecko
CBDCs and Tokenization
The central bank started its CBDC project, the digital rupee, at the end of 2022, to improve interbank settlements by reducing transaction costs. The RBI plans to launch a pilot for the deposit token on the market, with the Wholesale Control segment of the Indian digital currency (CBDC) being used as a fundamental layer for the pilot for depositing tokenization with several domestic banks.
CoinTelegraph reached out to the RBI for comment on its new initiatives for digital currency and tokenization but had not received a response at the time of publication. For more information on India’s stance on cryptocurrencies and digital currencies, visit https://cointelegraph.com/news/india-slams-unbacked-crypto-rbi-digital-currency-tokenization?utm_source=rss_feed&utm_medium=rss_tag_regulation&utm_campaign=rss_partner_inbound
