Governor of India’s central bank compares cryptocurrencies to gambling

Shaktikanta Das claimed cryptocurrencies shouldn’t be allowed since gambling is banned in India.

India.- The governor of India’s Central Bank, Shaktikanta Das, has again spoken out against cryptocurrencies. He called for them to be banned because they are “a game of chance” and gambling is banned in India.

Speaking at a Business Today event, Das reiterated his call for a complete ban on cryptocurrency, saying that although supporters call it an asset or a financial product, it has no underlying value.

According to The Hindustan Times, Das said: “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.

“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 is also concerned that the potential of cryptocurrencies as a method of exchange would cause central banks to lose control over the money supply and hence monetary policy and liquidity levels. He suggested a weakening of the authority of India’s Central Bank could lead to the dollarisation of the economy.

The Central Bank of India has launched its own digital currency pilot in the form of e-rupee, initially for wholesale at the end of October last year and a month later for private clients.