India Will Soon Test ‘E-Rupee’ Digital Currency
The Reserve Bank of India has proposed a phased pilot of its version of a Central Bank Digital Currency.
The Indian government expressed its plans to launch a CBDC in February. India's Central banks across the globe are showing an increased interest in CBDCs as an alternative to paper money.
The RBI paper cited China and 16 other countries that are currently piloting their version of a CBDC as a reason for moving forward with one now.
The RBI aims to roll out the e-rupee in pilot launches, with the intent of implementing it as an additional form of currency issued alongside paper money.
The RBI paper cited China and 16 other countries that are now piloting their version of a CBDC as a reason for moving forward with one now.
Now we are at the forefront of a watershed movement the evolution of now that will decisively change the very nature of money and its functions.
CBDC is a promising invention and the next step in the evolutionary progression of sovereign currency.
The unfettered use of cryptocurrencies poses a risk to the financial and macroeconomic stability of India.
RBI expressed: CBDC will provide the public with the benefits of virtual currencies while ensuring consumer protection by avoiding the damaging social and economic consequences of private virtual currencies.
RBI recognized it might be desirable for small transactions to be as anonymous as using cash, it said providing privacy would be a challenge.
India's central bank expressed: “The potential for [an] anonymous digital currency to facilitate [a] shadow-economy and illegal transactions makes it highly unlikely that any CBDC would be designed to fully match the levels of anonymity and privacy currently available with physical cash,”
India is feeling the pressure of China's CBDC rollout, which is expanding and has prompted debate among legislators in the U.S.
Related: Indian Government Working on How GST Tax Could Be Applied to Crypto
