
India presses ahead with CBDC pilot run on wholesale business
The adoption of CBDCs in India will be conducted in phases on FY 2022-2023, beginning with wholesale businesses, as the Reserve Bank of India mulls the digital rupees' anonymity level.
The adoption of CBDCs in India will be conducted in phases on FY 2022-2023, beginning with wholesale businesses, as the Reserve Bank of India mulls the digital rupees' anonymity level.
Kumaraguru Ramanujam’s application, MoneySwipe, aims to bring down fees for sending money abroad from the current global average of 7% to just 1.5%.
Open Financial Technologies, an India-based neo-banking startup, is set to deploy its blockchain-based cross-border transaction monitoring solution after its approval by the Reserve Bank of India.
Ajay Kumar Choudhary stated that the RBI would leverage the Union Budget 2022-23 that gives legal backing to the CBDC to implement it in a phased manner for wholesale and retail segments.
The finance ministry does not support RBI's plan to ban digital assets because a decision to ban them will only be effective if there is international collaboration due to their borderless nature.
The Reserve Bank of India states that digital assets don't pose a significant risk because the market is relatively small, but it thinks that as the ecosystems they support grow, their risks are likely to increase.
Top banks currently involved in the pilot include HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, and State Bank of India (SBI). Axis Bank, Bank of Baroda, and Union Bank of India.
T. Rabi Sankar's statement echoes the RBI's revelation in its annual report released earlier this month, where it said it would follow a "graded approach" to introduce the digital rupee.
Speaking at a webinar series organized by the IMF, RBI Deputy Governor T. Rabi Sankar stated that the Indian central bank believes CBDCs could kill private digital currencies.
In its annual report published recently, the Reserve Bank of India proposed a three-stage "graded approach" to introduce a central bank digital currency, including proof-of-concept, pilot, and launch.
Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das reminded that before the market crash, the RBI had been warning of the risks involved in investing in digital currencies, according to local reports.
The central bank says that digital currencies will seriously undermine its ability to determine monetary policy and contribute to money laundering and terrorism funding.