The country’s Reserve Bank says Indian digital currency trials may launch as soon as December according the governor Shaktikanta Das in an interview with the CNBC-TV18 news. The Indian central bank is said to be evaluating the security aspects, financial sector implications and the overall potential impact on the country’s monetary policy and circulation.
The central bank is evaluating the security aspects, implications on the financial sector, and impact on the monetary policy and currency circulation in the run-up to the introduction of digital currency
Shaktikanta Das, Governor of the Reserve Bank of India
The RBI (Reserve Bank of India) is considering both a centralised and decentralised ledger system for the country’s foray into their own CBDC (central bank digital currency).
Indian Digital Currency Trials Not The Only CBDC Research Going On
India is not the only central bank which is actively investigating digital currencies, with over 85% of the world’s central banks actively researching CBDC’s, with around 14% already deploying and testing pilot projects.
Governor Das is not the only member of the central bank who is publicly talking about the possibilities of a CBDC in the country, with the deputy governor, T Rabi Sankar previously saying in July that the advantages afforded by digital currencies may well justify the country moving towards them for transactions and settlements.
“India is leading the world in terms of digital payments innovations. Its payment systems are available 24×7, available to both retail and wholesale customers, they are largely real-time, the cost of transaction is perhaps the lowest in the world….It would be difficult to find another payment system like Unified Payment Interface that allows a transaction of one Rupee. With such an impressive progress of digitisation, is there a case for CBDCs (central bank digital currencies)?”
T Rabi Sankar, Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India.
India has been on a rollercoaster of indecision when it comes to sentiment about digital currencies, with the government previously looking at banning cryptocurrencies earlier this year, but this month, Indian Crypto Exchange CoinDCX became the first crypto unicorn after the company raised over $90M from investors which included Facebook.
The news that Indian digital currency trials could begin as soon as the next 4 months however is a massive boost to the growing interest in cryptocurrency in the country. The country has recently been ranked as 2nd on the global cryptocurrency adoption index just behind Vietnam, but ahead of most western nations.
