India Should Abandon Its Suspicion Of Digital Currency

Context: Call to re-consider India’s aversion to cryptocurrencies and embrace the opportunities.

Concerns over cryptocurrencies

  • Speculative nature and highly volatile investments.
  • Limiting scope of law enforcement agencies to track down criminals.
  • Cannot serve fundamental function of a currency of storing value as they are highly unstable.
  • Radical nature as purely permissionless system has no need of banks to register each transaction.
  • Overlooks role of Central bank in maintaining financial health of economy through economic interventions.
  • Integration of digital currencies into traditional financial paradigm bound to run into multitude of challenges.

Indian policy response to cryptocurrencies

  • Prohibition: In 2018, the Reserve Bank of India prohibited regulated entities from providing services that deals with or settles trades in any virtual currency.
  • Resurrection: In 2020, Supreme Court lifted this restriction.

Advantages of cryptocurrencies

  • Opportunities for innovation: E.g. Digitally native currencies are programmable and capable of being incorporated into smart contracts
  • Ideal for financial inclusion: As they can be directly allotted to citizens who don’t have a bank account
  • Digitally auditable: Transactions can be audited, reducing scope for illicit activity.

Way forward: Integrating the best that digital currencies have to offer into the traditional financial paradigm.

  • Thinking digital currencies as just another asset—the digital equivalent of a scarce commodity that, like gold, certain collectors prize.
  • Central bank digital currency (CBDC): A digital currency that functions as an electronic representation of a country’s fiat currency.
    • Added advantages: Programmability and security of cryptocurrencies and the reserve-backed stability of fiat currency.
    • E.g. In 2020, the Bahamas introduced the Sand Dollar, while Sweden’s Riksbank began testing its eKrona CBDC as a proof of concept.