The Reserve Bank of India(RBI) Governor Shakthikanta Das’s recent statements give away that he is still very skeptical about the cryptocurrency sector.
“Private cryptocurrencies are a big threat to our financial and macroeconomic stability,” Das stated during a press conference.
Once again making RBI’s stance on cryptocurrency very clear, the Governor noted that crypto will undermine RBI’s ability to deal with issues related to financial stability.
Governor Das also warned the investors in the crypto space adding that they should invest at their own risk as crypto has no underlying value as an asset.
“Not even a tulip,” is what the value of crypto is, as far as the RBI governor is concerned.
Governor Das’s statement comes at a time when the Indian Financial Minister announced in the Union Budget that any income from the transfer of crypto assets will be taxed at 30%. The tax will be levied regardless of whether the holdings are short or long term.
This is not the first time the Governor has commented on cryptocurrency as just last November he outright stated that the number of Indians investing in crypto is highly exaggerated. While the RBI is planning on issuing its own CBDCs, Das noted previously that digital frauds and cyber security as two major areas of concern in a CBDC framework.
“We are making progress on CBDCs after carefully, cautiously examining it because there are risks,” he said. “The biggest risk is of cybersecurity and possibility of counterfeiting. We should absolutely prevent that.”
