According to a 50-page report published on Friday, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is moving toward starting a digital rupee pilot and outlining the critical features of the central bank digital currency (CBDC).
The pilot Digital Rupee program will begin “soon,” according to the Indian central bank, and it will update the public on its features and advantages “from time to time.” However, some significant features have only recently come to light.
For consumer use cases and bank-to-bank transfers, the report distinguishes between retail and wholesale use cases and suggests that both may be implemented.
It also covers various issuing models, including one in which the central bank would issue wholesale CBDCs based on accounts, while an intermediary would issue and manage consumer CBDCs based on tokens.
Additionally, RBI urges users to stick with a non-interest-bearing coin that resembles actual cash and “reasonable anonymity for small value transactions.”
The digital rupee’s underlying technology is still being developed. The RBI is allowing room for future decentralized technology adaptation.
With “compelling reasons” that make a national digital currency “as attractive as cash, if not more,” the report examines various possibilities and seeks to increase awareness about CBDCs. The concept note, however, is also aware of the risks and aims to implement the pilot program gradually.
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