India is quickly becoming an interesting country to keep an eye on when it comes to Bitcoin and blockchain. It is evident the region is focusing heavily on regulation, but the government also wants to explore the potential of blockchain applications. The Reserve Bank of India actively advises banks to study these opportunities further, which is an interesting change to keep an eye on.
Reserve Bank of India Wants Blockchain Apps
The Reserve Bank of India is not the first nor the last financial institution to see the promise of blockchain-based applications. However, they are one of the very few banks actively advising banks to explore these opportunities at this stage. A new research group has been created to promote the research into this particular.
In most cases, developers and entrepreneurs are responsible for creating new and innovative blockchain applications. Banks, on the other hand, tend to study the technology before putting something together themselves. More importantly, there are growing concerns bankers do not properly understand the technology at this stage, which is not entirely surprising.
Rama Gandhi explained the situation as follows:
“Cloud-based computing, blockchain processing technologies and virtualization of IT systems are a few examples which hold potential for being used in a big way … Banks and IDRBT can work together to study these, test them out and adapt for best use.”
But there is more to this situation than just favoring the blockchain to create competing services. The Reserve Bank of India is seriously contemplating issuing their own digital currency in the future, which would hinge on private distributed ledger technology. Don’t be mistaken in thinking this will be a Bitcoin rival, though, as the central bank will fully control the issuance and supply of this currency.
For the time being, it is anybody’s guess as to how this scenario will unfold over the coming months. It is positive to see the Reserve Bank of India give blockchain technology a vote of confidence. That being said, this will not be an open blockchain initiative, which is quite a shame.
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