Reserve Bank of India (RBI) executive director Ajay Kumar Choudhary provided some updates on India’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) in an interview with CNBC.
Choudhary said the central bank of India is exploring the offline functionality of the digital rupee. Noting that CBDC will soon become a medium of exchange in India, he emphasized that it needs to have all the characteristics of physical money, including anonymity. The RBI executive director previously said that India’s CBDC would be designed to be minimally disruptive and would not replace physical currency or the current financial system.
Choudhary further stated that the digital rupee will provide the public with currency in digital form and will serve as an alternative to cryptocurrencies. His statement echoes recent statements by RBI deputy governor T. Rabi Sankar that a digital rupee should be able to do everything a cryptocurrency can do, but without the associated risks of crypto.