Digital Rupee: A New Foundation Of Trust, Tech And Access

Astheworldrewrites the rules of money, India is not just at the table; with the digital rupee, it'sactively drafting thefirstlines, writes Virat Singh

- VIRAT SINGH

For millennia, money has told the story of human progress—an ever-evolving symbol of trust. From crude barter to glittering gold, from paper notes to plastic cards, and now, to digital code—our transactions have transformed alongside our civilisations. Picturea fisherman swapping his catch for a clay pot. Clunky, constrained, and painfully local. Then came shells, salt, and silver—tokens of trust with builtin value. Paper money, pioneered by the Chinese, tooka bold leap: value no longer resided inthe material but in collective belief, managed by a central power.

India, anemergingdigital powerhouse, is on the cusp of its next monetary leap. The Reserve Bank ofIndia’s (RBI) Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC)—the Digital Rupee is far more than a digital equivalent of cash; it'safundamental re-envisioning of money’s purpose ina swiftly changing world.

UPI Vs. Digital Rupee: ‘Same Destination, Different Tracks

UPI and the Digital Rupee aren't rivals; they're dance partners. Since its 2016 debut, the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has revolutionised payments in India, clocking over 5.86 billion transactions in June 2022 alone and growing 160 per cent annually. Its magic lies in its ease: multiple bank accounts linked to a single app, P2P ormerchant payments in seconds, all without charges. UPI is now as common in Indian villagesasitis in metropolitan malls.

But UPI is not money—it is a vehicle tomovemoney. The Digital Rupee, incontrast, is digital money itself. Issued directly by theRBI, the e issovereign tender, notrelianton bank accounts or privateapps. Running on distributed ledger technology (DLT) like Hyperledger Fabric, it's a tokenised currency that can bestored and transferred, ideal for areas where banks or networks don'treach.

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