The head of India’s central bank dismisses cryptocurrencies as being worth ‘not even a tulip’

Shaktikanta Das, the governor of the Reserve Bank of India, criticised private cryptocurrencies on Thursday, February 10, claiming they endanger the country’s macroeconomic and financial stability and erode its power to address both.

When questioned about such assets, the governor of the Reserve Bank of India said that they lacked intrinsic value, “not even a tulip,” and recommended investors to exercise care, according to The Times of India.

Despite the fact that the words are a reiteration of previously expressed institutional worries about such assets, the comments have additional weight in light of the fact that they come only days after the Union Budget placed a 30% tax on revenues earned by these assets.

“Private cryptocurrencies, by whatever name they are known, represent a danger to our macroeconomic and financial stability, as well as our financial strategy.” They will jeopardise the RBI’s capacity to address financial and macroeconomic stability concerns,” Das added.

The governor of the Reserve Bank of India asserts that it is his responsibility to alert investors.

Additionally, Das said that it is his “obligation” to alert investors, reminding them that they invest at their own risk and should exercise caution.

Das highlighted how he used historical context to communicate a message about the value of such instruments:

“They should also bear in mind that the cryptocurrency has no intrinsic value, not even a single tulip.” Cryptocurrency sector participants have hailed the decision to tax earnings made by digital assets, stating it “legitimises” their business.

However, there has been criticism against the government’s intentions, announced on February 2, to introduce a ‘digital rupee’ before 2023, as well as a 30% tax on trading cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), as the country moves closer to legalising crypto as legal cash.

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