An official from India’s central bank, RBI, said that the country’s CBDC would replace cryptocurrencies. It will be a solid alternative to all the digital assets in the market right now. If this happens, it could be a huge threat to the current crypto market. However, for that to happen, the official said that the Indian CBDC must possess all qualities of a physical currency and should be anonymous.
India’s central bank digital currency
The executive director of RBI, Ajay Kumar Choudhary, recently gave some updates on the CBDC India is working on. The most interesting feature that the central bank is exploring is how to implement the offline working of the digital rupee. Ajay is confident that the central bank digital currency will soon become a widely used payment medium in the country. So, it should have all the features of a physical currency and protect user privacy.
He also said in the past that India’s CBDC was not meant to replace cash or the current payment mediums. It is simply meant to co-exist with the current financial system. However, Ajay did say that they are designing it such that it will be an alternative to the current digital assets in the market. The idea is to enable the CBDC to do everything crypto can do without any associated risks.
CBDC adoption in India
India has started to test its central bank digital currency in the wholesale and retail sectors. Reliance became the first company in India to start accepting the digital rupee. At present, India’s CBDC only has 50,000 users and is accepted at 5,000 merchant outlets. However, this is just the beginning, and the RBI governor also thinks so, saying that CBDCs are the currency of the future.
Unlike the current financial system of India, which is built around UPI that has the banks as intermediaries, the CBDC will be just like physical notes and won’t have any dependency. If CBDCs succeed, the RBI will have an even stronger stance against crypto and will keep suggesting a ban despite the country implementing high tax rates on them.
What are your thoughts as an RBI official says that India’s CBDC will replace cryptocurrencies? And do you think this is plausible? Let us know in the comments below. And, if you found our content informative, share it with your family and friends.
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