The governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Shaktikanta Das, spoke about cryptocurrency during a press conference on Thursday. He also talked about the prospect of an RBI-issued digital currency, when the time will be right for issuing one, and his view on private digital currencies.
Also read: Indian Supreme Court Wraps up Crypto Hearing for the Year
RBI Governor’s View on Cryptocurrency
RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das reportedly talked about cryptocurrency and central bank digital currency (CBDC) on Thursday at a customary post-policy press conference. The governor “made it clear that the RBI is completely against private digital currency, asserting the sovereign’s right over this function,” PTI reported. Das was quoted as saying:
The world over, central banks and the governments are against private digital currency because currency issuance is a sovereign function and it has to be done by the sovereign.
The RBI has never been friendly to cryptocurrency. In April last year, the central bank banned financial institutions from providing services to crypto businesses including exchanges, forcing some of them out of business. The ban went into effect three months later. A number of crypto industry stakeholders filed writ petitions with the supreme court challenging the ban but the case is still ongoing. The court is scheduled to resume hearing the case on Jan. 14, 2020.
Das’ statements also echo the bill drafted by the interministerial committee (IMC) tasked with studying all aspects of cryptocurrency and providing recommendations. The committee, headed by former Secretary of the Department of Economic Affairs Subhash Chandra Garg, submitted the draft bill entitled “Banning of Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill 2019” to the Ministry of
