On a Tuesday in the Rajya Sabha session, which is India’s upper house of parliament, The Indian ministry of finance answered some questions regarding “RBI Cryptocurrency.”. Indian federal government cleared that it does not have a strategy to introduce cryptocurrency Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh asked the finance minister. This financial year RBI will introduce a digital version of traditional paper currency. This has been clarified by India’s central bank digital currency (CBDC).

Currently, cryptocurrencies are not being regulated by the central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). In the session, Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh asked the finance minister whether the government is working on launching a cryptocurrency that will be regulated by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Pankaj Chaudhary, the minister of state in the ministry of finance denied and clarified. The further government also clarified that currently, it is unregulated in India, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary told the Rajya Sabha in a written note.

"Reserve Bank of India (RBI) does not issue a cryptocurrency. Traditional paper currency is legal tender and is issued by RBI in terms of provisions of the RBI Act, 1994. A digital version of traditional paper currency is called Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC)," the minister said.

The minister also informed the upper house the RBI is working on a phased implementation strategy for CBDC. In another answer, he further added that RBI is certainly examining CBDC used cases that might be implemented with little to no or no interruption.

Currently, the Indian government is working on cryptocurrency legislation. In the winter season of parliament, a cryptocurrency bill was to be introduced although it was not taken up. As per the report, the government is currently discussing the regulation of crypto-assets and because of the complexity of the issuing government will need more time.

A year ago, the federal government proposed Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill 2021 which was seeking to ban all private cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin BTC, Ethereum ETH, and XRP. In a recent speech, the RBI Deputy Governor Rabi Sankar stressed that banning private cryptocurrencies will be the “best option” for the country, pointing aside its stand that is uncompromising in the asset class. He also said that exclusive cryptos could wreck INR value, India’s expert that is financial along with the government’s ability to regulate the economy.

Indrani bose

CBW - External Analyst

INDIA