Shaktikanta Das, Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), reiterated on Friday that crypto currencies are equivalent to gambling because their perceived value is purely speculative.
Das, speaking at a media event here, called for a crypto ban, claiming that there is no underlying value in them. Those who support it refer to it as an asset or a financial product, but it has no underlying value, he adds.
To combat the rise of cryptocurrencies, the central bank recently piloted its own e-rupee, or central bank digital currency (CBDC).
“Every asset, every financial product has to have some underlying (value) but in the case of crypto, there is no underlying value. So anything without any underlying, whose value is dependent entirely on make-believe, is nothing but 100 per cent speculation or to put it very bluntly, it is gambling,” he said.
“Since we don’t allow gambling in our country, and if you want to allow gambling, treat it as gambling and lay down the rules for gambling. But crypto is not a financial product,” Das added. He believes that CBDCs are the currency of the future, and that their use can help save money on logistics and printing.
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