India’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), has revealed that 50,000 users and 5,000 merchants are now using its central bank digital currency (CBDC). Digital rupee transactions are currently processed by eight banks, with five more banks soon to join the pilot programme, RBI Deputy Governor T. Rabi Sankar said.
Digital Rupee now has 50,000 users
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Deputy Governor T. Rabi Sankar said on Wednesday that the central bank’s digital currency pilot has reached its first milestones.
The RBI official revealed that India’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) now has 50,000 users and is accepted by 5,000 merchants. The retail digital rupee pilot, which began on December 1 last year, is taking place in five Indian cities, but the central bank plans to gradually add nine more cities. So far, eight banks have processed some 770,000 rupee digital transactions. The RBI plans to add five more banks to the pilot program soon.
The central banker stressed that the Reserve Bank of India intends to proceed cautiously with the digital rupee initiative to avoid taking action without a full understanding of its potential impact.
“We have our objectives in terms of users, in terms of merchants. We will go slowly, ”he emphasized, explaining:
We want the process to happen, but we want the process to happen gradually and slowly. We are in no rush to make something happen so quickly.
India’s largest retailer, Reliance Retail, announced last week that it plans to accept payments in digital rupees. The retail chain has partnered with ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and fintech Innoviti Technologies to add support for the central bank digital currency to its line of Freshpik gourmet stores across the country.
According to the Atlantic Council’s CBDC tracker, 114 countries, representing more than 95% of global GDP, are currently exploring a central bank digital currency.
RBI Still Skeptical of Crypto
Meanwhile, India’s central bank has continued to recommend an outright ban on cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin and ether. RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das has warned that cryptocurrencies are a risk to the country’s financial system and will cause the next financial crisis if not banned.
Furthermore, the RBI governor said last month that “cryptocurrency has no underlying value,” warning that it “will undermine the authority of the RBI and lead to dollarization of the economy.” Other RBI officials similarly warned that cryptocurrencies could lead to the dollarization of part of India’s economy “which will go against the country’s sovereign interests.”
What do you think about the progress of the digital rupee pilot? Let us know in the comments section.
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