Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das called for a complete ban on cryptocurrencies, saying that cryptocurrencies are nothing but gambling and their value is just an illusion. To further its opposition to such currencies and to take an edge over other central banks, RBI has recently introduced its own digital currency (Central Bank Digital Currency) in the form of e-rupee.
Das reiterated the need for a complete ban on crypto in an event on Business Today. Its proponents call it an asset or a financial product, but it has no inherent value and is not even a ‘tulip’, he said.
Significantly, at the beginning of the last century, the demand for tulip flower had increased a lot and its price skyrocketed. People wanted to get tulips at any cost.
The governor said that every asset, every financial product must have some underlying value, but in the case of crypto there is no inherent value… not even a tulip… and the rise in market value of crypto is just a fluke. To put it very plainly, it is gambling.
He said we don’t allow gambling in our country, and if you want to allow gambling, consider it as gambling and set gambling rules… But crypto is not a financial product.
