The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) plans to start a trial run for retail central bank digital currency (CBDC) in collaboration with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI ), a media report said.
Bankers familiar with the development told Economic Times (ET) that NPCI would host CBDC, which will be compatible with the current payment systems, such as the UPI platform. According to ET, RBI wants each bank to test retail CBDC involving 10,000 -50,000 consumers for the pilot initiative.
The CBDC technology is similar to the common library for UPI, and “it will be interoperable with the current payment platforms," a source told ET.
A wallet will store the e-rupee , with denominations as per the customer's request, “just like you request for cash from an ATM,” he said, adding the facility would be initially available only in select cities.
However, it was not immediately known when the trial would start.
Binance CEO Says India Does Not Have Crypto-Friendly Environment
At a TechCrunch Crypto conference on Thursday, cryptocurrency exchange Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao said, “I don’t think India is very crypto-friendly."
“A user could trade 50 times a day, and they will lose like 70% of their money. There is not going to be any volume for an order book type of exchange. So we don’t see a viable business in India today.
“We are in conversation with a number of industry associations and influential people and trying to put some logic there,” he said.
ReelStar Raises Over $5 Million From ReelToken ITO
The ReelStar app, a Web3-integrated social media platform, said it raised over $5 million from an Initial Token Offering (ITO) of its utility token ReelToken (REELT). ReelToken operates on a multi-blockchain platform. It uses Polygon (MATIC) and Binance Smart Chain (BSC) in multiple blockchain networks.
According to the company, the app offers an in-app tailor-made NFT creation feature, smart contract customisation, and an NFT marketplace in an easy-to-use Android or iOS environment.
In addition, the app provides creators the in-app tools and global access to consumers without requiring a large budget or technical knowledge.
