No difference of opinion between RBI and government on cryptocurrencies
Shaktikanta Das said that the RBI had flagged some big issues to the government on cryptocurrencies. However, “it is still under investigation; the government will come up with a decision on it.”
Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) ShaktiKanta Das said that the central bank and the government in India have no conflicts of opinion on cryptocurrencies. The RBI Governor’s remarks come in the wake of continuing speculation regarding the prospects of cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin in India. Although the RBI has taken a stern stance on suspected cryptocurrencies or crypto-related threats to financial stability and the credit system in the past, effectively banning cryptos in 2018, the government has seemed to be open to experimentation rather than outright prohibition.
At the India Economic Conclave, Shaktikanta Das said, “I do not believe there is any divergence of opinion between the RBI and the Central government on cryptocurrencies.” The Governor also said that the RBI and the government are still committed to financial stability and that the RBI has expressed some “big reservations” about cryptocurrencies to the government. “It is still under investigation, and the government will make a judgment on it,” he says. Even as the RBI considers launching a digital currency, Das told CNBC-TV18 in February that “we have big issues from the financial stability perspective.”
Though the government is scheduled to enact the Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021 in the current Parliament session to outlaw all “internal” cryptocurrencies, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman recently said at the India Today Conclave that “while the RBI can take a call on official cryptocurrency, we are very clear that we are not shutting down.” Even as crypto startups cheered Sitharaman’s comment, a Reuters report citing a senior government official said India would propose a law banning cryptocurrencies and fining anybody who trades or owns them in the nation.
Aadhaar architect Nandan Nilekani backed the use of cryptocurrency by citizens on Monday amid the uproar over the crypto ban. “We should think about bitcoin as an asset class, and individuals should be able to buy a small amount of it. As a transaction tool, cryptocurrency would not be as swift as UPI, aiming to process a billion transactions per day. But crypto has a lot of money,” Nilekani said in a Clubhouse session with Silicon Valley angel investor Balaji Srinivasan and Blume Ventures Managing Partner Karthik Reddy on Monday.
