Cryptocurrency lacks the fundamental characteristics of money, according to Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Deputy Governor T Rabi Sankar on Friday. He referred to it as “simply a bit of code,” which is neither a financial asset nor any other kind of asset.
Rabi Sankar gave an explanation of why these tokens are not considered money during his speech at the Mint Annual BFSI Conclave 2025. “There is no inherent value to cryptocurrencies. They lack an issuer and are not supported by a pledge to pay. He said, “Their worth is entirely hypothetical.
Instead of being issued or managed by a central bank, cryptocurrencies are digital or virtual money that operate on decentralized blockchain networks. They are still unregulated in India, and while doing business in them is neither prohibited nor illegal, it is subject to high taxes.
Money gets its legitimacy from the sovereign who guarantees its worth, and deposits or currency convey a commitment from a reliable issuer. Rabi Sankar said during the event that the main problem with cryptocurrencies is that, despite their claims to reinvent the very essence of money, they have no underlying value.
