Reserve Bank of India official suggests country may soon have a digital currency pilot

India may be launching a digital currency, an official from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said today. Speaking at a panel discussion held by the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy think tank, RBI deputy governor T Rabi Shankar described the potential Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) have for India, including smoother …

[Mike 137]

I don't get this at all

Currency is already essentially digital - the banks store your balance in computers, not vaults.

If they mean crypto currency, I can't see the advantage for legitimate transactions (except of course the permanent record in the block chain).

Then there's the extravagant cost of creating the currency. It was recently reported in El Reg that 100 kW/h yields around £3 in Bitcoin. As 1 kW/h costs (retail) about 15p in the UK, £1 in bitcoin would cost about 15 quid to generate, which is why folks steal electricity (or other peoples' computing power, which is essentially the same thing) to do it. As a national currency base has to be in the order of billions, this could get pretty expensive, even at preferential wholesale prices.

I can only assume (with my cynic hat on) that the speculators have a lot of political influence.

[vtcodger]

Cool?

I'm probably just extremely dense. But I have trouble seeing what the difference is between a government backed digital currency and a prepaid debit card. You hand over something(s) of value and you get some some sort of token that you can use to buy stuff until it runs out of value. Nothing wrong with prepaid debit cards. But you can buy one today from Visa, MasterCard, AmEx etc. What's the rush to get governments into the deal?

Other than the need to be cool of course.

[elsergiovolador]

Re: Cool?

Or that one of your mates has a company that can deliver something like this?

Besides, if you don't do anything people may think you are not needed.

[katrinab]

Re: Cool?

Well give them their equivalent of an electronic money licence like what PayPal has, and let them get on with it.

[katrinab]

Hong Kong already has a digital currency? It is called the Octopus Card. It is mostly used on public transport, but last time I was there, about 7 years ago, you could also spend it in places like 7 Eleven.

You could put it on Apple Pay, maybe they already have, Japan did it with their equivalent.

[Anonymous Coward]

I like that they call it a digital currency, and not a crypto currency. It will be tracked, non-anonymous, embargoable, seizable, reversable, and the supply will be under the control of a central government entity. It is nothing like a crypto currency.

[the Jim bloke]

It is nothing like a crypto currency.

You could have picked that up from the first paragraph, where they said "..protection from volatility.."

Since the only reason people not part of the ransomware industry (willing or otherwise) are buying crypto, is because of its volatility, a -supposed- absence of whimsical flights and plunges in value set it as the opposite of crypto..

[Version 1.0]

It's a digital world

Credit cards are effectively digital currency - sure, you can ask the companies to send you a statement in the mail but they prefer you to visit their (digital) website, as does your bank where your pay is direct deposited into your account.