RBI Plans To Launch India’s Own Cryptocurrency - Mr. Shaktikanta Das – Governor, RBI - 05-12-2019

After having banned banks from extending any services to crypto entities, the Reserve Bank of India said that it is planning to develop India’s own digital currency in India.

The question is about the digital currency. We do understand your stand on crypto currency which you made very clear in the Sandbox Policy but most of the regulators from all over the world are looking at digital currency very seriously including Hong Kong, Malaysia and MAS. What is the RBI's stand on digital currency? And also on the Regtech policies, which most of the regulators globally are adopting?

The governor of RBI Shaktikanta Das said , you see with regard to digital currency, there are two aspects. One is private digital currency. RBI is very clearly against any kind of private digital currency. And let me also add that it is not RBI which is against it, world over, the central banks and the governments are against private digital currency. Because currency issuance is a sovereign function, it has to be done by the sovereign.

A private currency cannot overwrite what is in the sovereign domain. And there are huge challenges with regard to money laundering and other aspects. With regard to digital currency to be issued by a central bank, that is central bank digital currency, this is very early. Some discussions are going on. The technology has also not yet fully evolved, it is still evolving.

This is still in a very incipient stage of discussion and at the RBI, we have examined it internally. And we are continuing to have internal discussions. And we do have consultations and discussions with other central banks also. But it's too early to talk about central bank digital currency. But as and when the technologically evolves, with adequate safeguards, I think it is an area which the Reserve Bank will certainly look at seriously, at an appropriate time.

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