India’s official digital currency is likely to debut by early 2023. The currency will mirror the current format of the private electronic wallet models. It will be a sovereign-backed currency, said the government source.
India’s Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, in her budget speech, had talked about the launch of a digital rupee backed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). A top government source on the condition of anonymity said that the digital currency issued by RBI will be numbered in units’ format, just like every flat currency has a unique number.
“The units issued in the digital rupee would be included in the currency in circulation. It would not be very different from fiat currency. In a sense, it would be more like an electronic form of fiat currency, so in a sense, it would be a government-mandated electronic wallet,” the source said.
The Digital Rupee blockchain developed by the RBI will be able to trace all the transactions made by the user, unlike the current system of electronic wallets, which lacks the said ability.
