More than 50,000 users have joined the trial of digital rupee in the country

The trial for India’s upcoming Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) has been expanded to over 50,000 users. From December last year till January this year, more than 7,70,000 transactions have taken place through digital rupee. Around 5,000 select merchants as well as a few banks are involved in the trial.

CBDC The responsibility has been given to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Like cryptocurrencies, using CBDCs built on blockchains can speed up online payments without incurring any service charges. The number of users will not be increased in this trial. However, there are plans to add more banks to it. Apart from this, nine more cities will be included in the trial. RBI Deputy Governor, T Rabi Sankar recently said, “We don’t want to rush the process.” Earlier this month, Reliance Retail’s Managing Director, V Subramaniam had revealed that his company is set to start using digital rupee in its stores in Mumbai in partnership with Kotak Mahindra Bank and ICICI Bank.

The digital rupee is likely to make the interbank market more efficient. Its trial Apart from SBI, these include Bank of Baroda, Union Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, HDFC Bank, Yes Bank, IDFC First Bank and HSBC. RBI has started this trial after considering the advantages and disadvantages of CBDC. Earlier, RBI had expressed opposition regarding cryptocurrencies. There has been a rapid growth in UPI payments after demonetization in the country. Digital rupee can also get the benefit of this. CBDC is a blockchain-based payment solution, which is controlled by the Central Bank. It works like cryptocurrencies but unlike cryptocurrencies, CBDCs do not have the volatility and other risks.

CBDC will be given to users in a digital wallet for trial in the retail segment. This wallet will be compatible with smartphones and PCs. This is likely to reduce the cost of transactions. RBI is among the few central banks in the world that have started the CBDC project.