India is Exploring a Central Bank Digital Currency for PaymentsThe Reserve Bank of India (RBI) joins a growing list of global counterparts in exploring a central bank digital currency (CBDC) that would constitute the digital equivalent of the Indian rupee.
The RBI has established an inter-departmental group to explore the demand and plausibility of a blockchain-based digital currency to be used in domestic payments, the central bank said in its Annual Report 2017-18 [PDF] released on Wednesday.
The monetary regulator cited “rapid changes” in the global payments industry bought on by disruptive factors like the “emergence of private digital tokens and the rising costs of managing fiat paper/metallic money” as factors for the RBI exploring its own digital asset.
The central bank said:
“[A]n inter-departmental group has been constituted by the Reserve Bank to study and provide guidance on the desirability and feasibility to introduce a central bank digital currency (CBDC).”
As reported by CCN earlier this week, the RBI discreetly established the new internal unit with a mandate to research cryptocurrency and blockchain technology under its roof. It is also believed that the unit has been operational for over a month and will also take an interest in drafting regulations for the usage and trading of public, decentralized cryptocurrencies like bitcoin.
https://www.ccn.com/india-is-exploring-a-central-bank-digital-currency-for-payments/
