Crypto crash justifies RBI’s stance: central bank chief

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Shaktikanta Das said in a local media interview that the central bank has rightly been cautioning against cryptocurrencies, following the collapse of Terra’s UST and LUNA.

See related article: RBI calls for crypto ban in India, again

Fast facts

• Das told CNBC TV18 on Monday that if crypto had been regulated in India leading to the recent disaster revolving around the Terra ecosystem, investors would have questioned the effectiveness of the law.

• While the Indian government has often said that it will not shut out crypto completely, the central bank has called for a ban on multiple occasions.

• “This [crypto] is something whose underlying [value] is nothing. There are big questions on how do you regulate it. Our position remains very clear, it will seriously undermine the monetary, financial, and macroeconomic stability of India,” the governor said.

• Das said the RBI and government are “in sync” in their stance on crypto regulation because the government is “equally concerned.”

• “We have conveyed our position to the government and they will take a considered call,” he said.

See related article: Indian economy at risk of ‘dollarization’ from cryptocurrencies: report