Share this article
India’s Central Bank Seeking Privacy Legislation for Retail CBDC Users
The RBI is seeking a provision that would allow customers to delete transactions to maintain anonymity if they so choose to.
By Amitoj Singh
Updated Mar 21, 2023, 9:28 p.m. Published Mar 21, 2023, 1:26 p.m.
Make us preferred on Google
India's central bank is advocating for legislation that will allow users of its retail central bank digital currency (CBDC) to delete any transactions from the network's ledger in order to maintain anonymity, a highly placed person told CoinDesk.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is currently running both retail and wholesale CBDC pilots. The retail CBDC is currently active in at least 15 cities.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
"The latest numbers show that more than 100,000 customers and 13 banks are participating in the pilot now," the person said.
India's finance ministry may have to bring legislation to the parliament for the RBI to have the legal backing to institute the "delete" option into its CBDC.
"We are working on how to ensure privacy is maintained in our CBDC," the person said. "We are asking the government to provide a legal backing in the form of legislation that will allow customers to delete transactions to maintain anonymity if they so choose to."
Lawmakers and individuals across the world have been concerned about the potential surveillance aspects of CBDCs. In the U.S., numerous lawmakers have introduced or proposed bills that would ban CBDCs outright, citing these privacy concerns.
Asked if this may be the first such effort from any nation to solve the problem around CBDC privacy, the person said "yes."
Recently, India announced a collaboration with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to jointly conduct pilot programs on CBDCs and is exploring more such bilateral ties.
Read More: Unpacking India's CBDC Pilots as Country Prepares for Digital Rupee
More For You
Pudgy Penguins is building a multi-vertical consumer IP platform — combining phygital products, games, NFTs and PENGU to monetize culture at scale.
What to know:
Pudgy Penguins is emerging as one of the strongest NFT-native brands of this cycle, shifting from speculative “digital luxury goods” into a multi-vertical consumer IP platform. Its strategy is to acquire users through mainstream channels first; toys, retail partnerships and viral media, then onboard them into Web3 through games, NFTs and the PENGU token.
The ecosystem now spans phygital products (> $13M retail sales and >1M units sold), games and experiences (Pudgy Party surpassed 500k downloads in two weeks), and a widely distributed token (airdropped to 6M+ wallets). While the market is currently pricing Pudgy at a premium relative to traditional IP peers, sustained success depends on execution across retail expansion, gaming adoption and deeper token utility.
More For You
Crypto faces fork in the road as Clarity Act support wavers, Bitwise says
The asset manager argued that without federal legislation, the industry has three years to become indispensable before political winds potentially shift.
What to know:
- Bitwise said in a blog post Monday that Polymarket odds for the Clarity Act have fallen from 80% to 50% following industry pushback.
- If the bill fails, Bitwise believes crypto must achieve mass adoption in stablecoins and tokenization to force a regulatory hand.
- The firm anticipates a sharp rally upon the bill's passage, while a failure would likely lead to a "slower ascent" tied to proven utility.
Top Stories
