November 26, 2021
The centre says due to the obscurity around cryptocurrencies, it won’t be considered as a legal tender.
Union Finance Secretary T V Somanathan said: “Right now, I will only say that cryptocurrencies are not going to become a legal tender. The Indian rupee is a legal tender, while gold and silver are not legal tenders. The rest will be decided in the bill.”
According to sources, even the RBI report to Centre emphasizes the threat of crypto on monetary sovereignty and stability on Rupee, especially if domestic price formation gets set in virtual currencies in future. The report also states the value of such virtual currencies can be manipulated to fluctuate which could pose a problem in controlling inflation.
Meanwhile RBI is set to kickstart the pilot programme for central bank digital currency in December. While it’s a mild setback that crypto isn’t a legal tender, there’s still hope as the Centre, despite prohibiting private crypto coins, allows certain exceptions.
Source: India Today
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