India: No 'serious discussions' yet regarding cryptocurrencies, says RBI governor

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Shaktikanta Das reiterated the serious concerns of the country's central bank on deeper issues. These are beside macro-economic and financial stability-related ones on cryptocurrencies.

"I am yet to see serious, well-informed discussions in the public sphere on these issues," Das, a known critic of cryptocurrencies, said at a banking conclave.

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Last week, he had warned that cryptocurrencies were a serious concern to the central bank from a macroeconomic and financial stability standpoint. "The government is actively looking at the issue and will decide on it," he said. "But as the central banker, we have serious concerns about it, and we have flagged it many times."

A meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi had reached a consensus that the government's steps in the future on cryptocurrencies would be progressive and forward-looking.

According to Das, 80 per cent of crypto accounts in India are small, ranging from Rs500 to Rs2,000. "Yes, the value of transactions and trading has gone up, but the number of accounts, as I said, is exaggerated. And I stick to that," he had asserted earlier.

The parliament's standing committee on finance had also called on cryptocurrency bodies and experts to discuss "opportunities and challenges" in the sector, before the possible introduction of a bill in parliament.

• India