The Reserve Bank of India, de facto the Central Bank of the country, has launched a new department to amplify its presence in the fast-evolving market of emerging technologies like cryptocurrency, blockchain and artificial intelligence. In the future, the new subdivision will also study and create possible draft rules related to these areas, as two sources familiar with the situation told IndiaTimes.
Currently, the new unit is working on an experimental basis and will evolve as time passes, one of the sources shared with the media. Though it has been operating for a month already, there has been still no official announcement made by RBI.
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?
- Earlier in April, the RBI has banned crypto by barring regulated entities from providing services to any individual or business dealing in digital currencies. The weariness caused by the increasing rise of crypto fraud was the reason the ban has been upheld in the past. The Supreme Court of India has postponed giving its verdict to the crypto-ban issued by the central bank, setting the next hearing date on September 11
- In the same month of April, RBI has announced that it will launch a data sciences laboratory that will gather specialists from areas such as computer science, data analytics, statistics, economics, econometrics, and finance. The unit will focus on inflation, banking regulations, and policy enforcement and will allegedly start working at the end of 2018.