Indian Central Bank Isn’t Planning Bitcoin Adoption, but is Keen on Using Blockchain Technology

The status of digital currencies tends to vary from country to country. While some choose to remain supportive, others tend to discourage the use of digital assets and the technology behind them. One recent example in this direction is India, who apparently does not have a positive opinion on Bitcoin.

According to a director of the Reserve Bank of India, also known as the RBI, the bank is not planning to use the technology in the future. S Ganesh Kumar, the executive director of the RBI stated that: “Our current position on bitcoins is that we will not be using it for any payments and settlements (…) though the technology underlying crypto-currencies will not end.”

There have been a couple of discussions referring to India’s opinion on cryptocurrencies, and this statement shows that Bitcoin is not actively praised by bank officials. However, it is important to point out the fact that the RBI has a very positive opinion of bitcoin’s underlying system, the distributed ledger known as the blockchain network.

These statements are relevant as few months ago, there have been several rumours about bitcoin being adopted as a method of payment settlement in the future. Regardless, it seems like there is no intention to thoroughly ban the use of digital currencies, or to crack down on the market in India. Not long ago, several reports about India preparing the release of their very own cryptocurrency have also been made. However, it seems like this will no longer be the case in the near future, as the RBI isn’t yet confident in the purpose of digital currencies, and how these could improve the market.

Back in August 2017, a panel belonging to the finance ministry recommended the ban of digital currencies in India, due to the potential of either fraud or money laundering that they have.

At this moment in time, bitcoin use in the region is not very popular. In terms of acceptance, it is worth mentioning that there are only a few retailers and restaurants who accept is as a means of payment. There are however a couple of exchanges operating in the region, some of which allow users to use bitcoin in order to purchase tickets for various events.

The co-founder of Zebpay, a bitcoin exchange operating in India stated that: “We will do our best to continue with our efforts to educate the government about crypto-currencies.”