After announcing the monetary policy committee’s decision to keep the key lending rates unchanged on Thursday, the Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das reiterated his stance on Cryptocurrencies calling them a ‘threat to our financial and macroeconomic stability’.

 

In a media interaction, Das said, “As far as cryptocurrencies is concerned, the RBI stance is very clear. Private cryptocurrencies are a big threat to our financial and macroeconomic stability. They will undermine RBI’s ability to deal with issues related to financial stability.”

 

Das further stated that he feels it is his duty to inform investors that what they are investing in cryptocurrencies, they should keep in mind that they are investing at their own risk. “They should keep in mind that these cryptocurrencies have no underlying (asset). Not even a tulip!”, he added.

 

Meanwhile, the Central bank also talked about the Digital rupee which was announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her Budget 2022-23 speech on February 1.

 

 

 

RBI Deputy Governor T. Rabi Sankar informed that the Digital Rupee will be exactly like normal, physical rupee. He added, “It will be 1-to-1 convertible. Only it will be digital in nature. Like normal rupee is kept in your purse or pocket, the digital rupee will be kept in your cell phone device. The difference between digital rupee and private cryptocurrencies is that the digital rupee will be issued by the RBI.”

 

On the roll out of the digital currency, Das answered that they can’t give a timeline on CBDC.

 

“But what I can say is that whatever we are doing, we are doing it very carefully and cautiously. We have to keep risks like cyber-security and counterfeiting in mind. So, we are proceeding cautiously and can’t give a timeline,” he stated.

 

The Deputy Guv further mentioned that once the law, as proposed, is amended, we can go ahead with our proofs of concept and pilot projects.