The Reserve Bank of India, or RBI, continues to investigate the issuance of a central bank digital currency, or CBDC. T Rabi Sankar, the deputy governor of RBI, said in a speech organized by the Vidhi Center for Legal Policy that private digital currencies could be part of what makes CBDCs ultimately necessary. He felt that the RBI’s development of it’s own CBDC could provide the public with many of the same uses as digital currencies such as Bitcoin, while limiting the average user’s exposure to volatility. He stated: “Indeed, this could be the key factor nudging central banks from …
An Indian cryptocurrency ban would have grave implications for the future of the country’s economy, and would result in currency devaluation “of the worst form,” says blockchain entrepreneur and HashCash CEO Raj Chowdhury. Chowdhury, also the managing director of the United States-based PayBito cryptocurrency exchange, said India’s rejection of Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies would be the equivalent of rejecting the U.S. dollar. Without regulating and eventually adopting cryptocurrency as a reserve currency, Chowdhury believes India’s economy would suffer in the long term. “Maintaining Cryptocurrency reserves are as important as maintaining dollar reserves. By banning crypto, India will end up …
The repeal of a blanket ban on cryptocurrencies in March by India’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India, has been a boon to the thriving crypto industry in India — with the launch of new exchanges being a catalyst. This is despite the country being one of the most severely affected nations by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has led to a deepening economic crisis across the nation. For investors and fintech innovators alike, cryptocurrency and blockchain technology have proven to be a much-needed respite in these challenging times. Regulatory uncertainty Repealing the blanket ban was not the ultimate solution …
A draft of India’s national strategy on blockchain and distributed ledger technology suggests a central bank digital currency (CBDC), the digital Indian rupee, and a national blockchain. The National Institute for Smart Governance (NISG), a non-profit public body incorporated by the government of India, has published a draft document on the country’s national blockchain strategy. Issued on Dec. 30, the document appears to have been published recently as major local publications such as The Economic Times of India reported on the draft strategy on Jan. 28. Digital rupee should be issued on a national blockchain of India In the document, …
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi awarded young entrepreneur Harshita Arora, the developer of a cryptocurrency price tracking application, amid an ongoing battle in her home country over the status of cryptocurrency. In a tweet on Jan. 24, Modi said that Arora’s “passion towards science, technology and human welfare are clearly visible.” She received the Bal Shakti Puraskar 2020: an award recognizing youth’s contributions in the fields of social service, innovation, bravery, sports, art and culture and scholastics. Arora was born on Oct. 2, 2001, and “created an app to safeguard investors from scammers,” according to Modi’s tweet. Her app, Crypto …