RBI To Introduce India’s Own Cryptocurrency ‘CBDC’ This Year

RBI may launch India’s own cryptocurrency ‘CBDC’ in this fiscal year. It is also being called ‘The Digital Rupee’. Let’s discuss what is CBDC & how it will impact us.

According to reports published on Monday (August 22), the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) digital rupee, may be implemented gradually, starting with wholesale enterprises during the current fiscal year.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stated that the central bank would introduce the CBDC in the fiscal year 2022–2023 in her statement on the budget on February 1. 

In October of last year, the RBI made a proposal to the government to expand the use of the paper rupee to include money in a digital format. The RBI has frequently expressed its aversion to private digital currencies.

What is CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currency)?

The RBI states that, “CBDC is the legal tender issued by a central bank in a digital form. It is the same as a fiat currency and is exchangeable one-to-one with the fiat currency. Only its form is different.”

Wallets supported by blockchain can be used to transact using the digital fiat currency – CBDC.

Despite being directly inspired by Bitcoin, the idea of CBDCs is distinct from decentralized digital currencies as well as crypto assets, which are not produced by the government and lack the status of “legal tender.” 

CBDCs give users the ability to carry out domestic and international transactions without the use of a third party or bank.

How Will CBDC Help India?

“Introduction of CBDC has the potential to deliver major benefits, such as reduced dependence on cash, higher seigniorage due to lower transaction costs, and reduced settlement risk,” said Pankaj Chaudhary, a minister of state for finance, in a statement to the Lok Sabha last year. The use of CBDC might also result in a more reliable, effective, regulated, and legal tender-based payment system.

However, he had noted, “There are also related hazards that need to be carefully weighed against the potential advantages.”

Chaudhary declared that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had suggested changes to the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934, allowing it to establish a CBDC. 

At the time, the government intended to propose a Bill into Parliament that would, with “limited exclusions,” forbid “any private cryptocurrencies in India.”

“In October 2021, the Reserve Bank of India submitted a proposal to the government for a change to the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934, to broaden the definition of “bank note” to encompass money in digital form. 

In order to introduce CBDC with minimal to no interruption, RBI has been looking at use cases and developing a phased implementation approach”, Chaudhary told the Lok Sabha.

RBI has regularly raised concerns about the use of private cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ether, etc. for money laundering, terrorism financing, tax evasion, etc. 

Its own CBDC launch has been viewed as a method to balance the benefits and dangers of digital money.

How Will The Digital Rupee CBDC Impact Our Daily Lives?

Technology experts & evangelists have put forth a number of models for how the digital rupee may be used in transactions; the specifics will probably be revealed in the RBI’s official announcement.

One significant distinction would be that, in contrast to the existing digital payment experience, a transaction in digital rupees would be instantly.