India is considering banning cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) and Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) in favor of its own central bank digital currency (CBDC), with key regulatory institutions advocating for the move. This comes as the government is preparing a discussion paper on the future of crypto regulation in the country.
What Happened: Quoting sources close to the situation, local news outlet Hindustan Times reported on Tuesday that consultations have strongly leaned toward prohibiting private cryptocurrencies, citing the significant risks they pose that government officials believe outweigh their benefits, including stablecoins pegged to assets like gold.
“CBDCs can do whatever cryptos do. In fact, CBDCs have more benefits than cryptos, minus the risks associated with private cryptocurrencies,” a government official, who spoke under condition of anonymity, told the publication.
The official raised further concerns about the instability of stablecoins, or cryptocurrencies typically pegged to fiat currencies, questioning their reliability …
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