[2017-01-19] Mint: Sovereign digicoin: a road map for RBI

[polynesia]

Sovereign digicoin: a road map for RBI

http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/ngBnVfF2h0KxMfHcDO90xH/Sovereign-digicoin-a-road-map-for-RBI.html

In July 2016, an editorial in this newspaper had queried, “Should RBI issue a new digital Bharatcoin?” and ended on a futuristic note encouraging policymakers and regulators to have a “discussion on Bharatcoin”. It is a testimony to the prescience of this newspaper that its early exhortation to explore the issue of Bharatcoin has found an echo in the report of the committee on digital payments. The report, recently made publicly available for comments, notes several benefits of introducing a central bank digital currency (CBDC). It concludes the discussion by recommending that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) evaluate the possibility of RBI-issued digital currency and testing proof of concept.