Cryptocurrencies are a “clear danger” and have the potential to disrupt financial stability, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Shaktikanta Das said

See related article: Crypto crash justifies RBI’s stance: central bank chief

Fast facts

  • “Anything that derives value based on make believe, without any underlying, is just speculation under a sophisticated name,” Das said in the foreword of RBI’s latest financial stability report released Thursday.
  • The RBI has consistently warned against cryptocurrency investments, with one of the deputy governors calling for an outright ban
  • Das added that financial stability risks to the Indian economy are skewed toward global spillovers and geopolitical tensions.
  • “The risks of stagflation are rising,” Das said. “With no resolution visible in the near future, the need of the hour for every economy is to combat mounting inflation while factoring in the growth requirements of the economy. The balancing game has become even more delicate.”
  • The prospects for the global economy are overcast by the war in Ukraine even as they continue to be shaped by the evolution of the Covid-19 pandemic, Das said.  

See related article: Crypto is ‘not even a tulip,’ India’s central bank chief says