RBI Deputy Governor: Banning Crypto Is 'Most Advisable' for India, Regulation Is 'Futile'
RBI’s Deputy Governor Sees Crypto Ban as ‘the Most Advisable Choice Open to India’
A deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), T. Rabi Sankar, shared his view on cryptocurrency and what Indian crypto policy should be during his keynote address at the Indian Banks Association 17th Annual Banking Technology Conference and Awards Monday.
“Cryptocurrencies are not amenable to definition as a currency, asset, or commodity,” the deputy governor said, adding:
"They have no underlying cash flows, they have no intrinsic value … they are akin to Ponzi schemes, and may even be worse."
Regarding cryptocurrency regulation, Sankar dismissed crypto proponents’ suggestion that the asset class should be regulated.
“We have examined the arguments proffered by those advocating that cryptocurrencies should be regulated and found that none of them stand up to basic scrutiny,” he insisted.
Emphasizing that “It would be futile to regulate cryptocurrencies,” he explained:
"Cryptocurrencies are not currencies or financial assets or real assets or even digital assets. Therefore, it cannot be regulated by any financial sector regulator. It is not possible to regulate something that one cannot define."
Regarding the purpose of cryptocurrency, Sankar believes, “The class of crypto products are fundamentally designed to bypass the established financial system, and on a larger scale government itself.”
He opined: “The fact that they are anonymous, decentralized systems that operate purely virtually makes cryptocurrencies particularly attractive to illegal, illegitimate transactions which have been largely filtered out of the formal financial system.” Read More…
