Industry welcomes RBIs CBDC project to launch India's digital currency

One of the key developments in the financial world is the introduction of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs)

With regards to the recent announcement that RBI is rolling out a pilot of Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) with the launch of the Digital Rupee on November 01, we would like to share the views of the industry experts on this development-  

Binance spokesperson- “We encourage mass adoption of blockchain and crypto and wish great success to all such projects done by policymakers. India’s digitally skilled talent potential for Web3 and favourable policies will encourage a faster pace of growth in Web3 adoption in the future.”  

Mr. Ankit Wadhwa, Co-Founder & CEO, Rario – "UPI, as we all know, has been a ground-breaking innovation in the digital payments landscape that deeply impacted the payments settlement system in India. UPI has made transactions within the banking ecosystem faster and more efficient, bringing a true digital revolution to India. The digital rupee will add significantly to our financial economy, wherein users can make verifiable and trackable transactions. Considering it is governed by a central authority, the volatility risk associated with other digital currencies such as bitcoin is not there while transacting and tracking the transactions will become easier for the government and users alike."  

Pratik Gauri, Co-founder & CEO, 5ire - “I appreciate the government’s commitment to financial inclusion and am thrilled to see the introduction of Central Bank Digital Currency (CDBC) by RBI. As the founder of a layer 1 blockchain unicorn that hopes to bridge the gap between the physical and digital world, I applaud this first step toward India’s digital currency. At 5ire, we have already been working with the Goa Police and Muzaffarnagar Police and am optimistic that when RBI decides to look at the underlying technology for CDBC they will strongly consider blockchain. A centralized system purposefully skirts innovation and development of a transparent and accountable system. Blockchain and decentralization are necessary for the success of CDBC. In my opinion, what RBI should aspire for is to build a transparent and robust digital infrastructure.”  

Sanjeev Chandak, Co-founder & CEO of ftcash, “One of the key developments in the financial world is the introduction of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) to offer diversified formats of central bank money. With the beginning of the pilot phase of the digital rupee, we are looking forward to how RBI’s new currency will shape the cross-border and local payments ecosystem. The rapid adoption of UPI and QR-based payments across the country and different sizes and types of businesses have proven that India is an early adopter of technology. CBDC will further be a positive step towards the adoption of blockchain for financial services and will align India with the world that is rapidly progressing towards adoption of digital currencies.”

Saurabh Puri, Chief Business Officer- Credit Cards, Zaggle said “The digital rupee is a remarkable step towards developing trust in digital currencies. India has been amongst the leaders in digital payments and the government's support has further spearheaded digitization. The digital token will make business transactions easier. At the same time, money transfers will become quicker. An RBI backed digital rupee reduces the risks of volatility and increases transparency. The mechanism is still in its early phases of implementation. Establishing it in India demands an enhanced financial literacy from the country.”