Should India float a Cryptocurrency to replace Rupee? Subramanian Swamy one-line argument

Bitcoin, cryptocurrencies and the blockchain technology which supports cryptocurrencies have been the talk of the town for quite some time now. Although several experts have called it the future of the currency system, it still raises questions about whether it will really replace the Fiat (paper) currency system used by almost all nations. In a webinar on May 26, Rajya Sabha MP and noted economist Dr Subramanian Swamy had called cryptocurrencies a "subject of the future" and unstoppable, and noted that digital currencies are the latest development with regards to paying for the exchange of goods.

In response to Republic World covering Dr Swamy's views, one of the Twitter users posed a question to him on whether the Government of India should introduce its own cryptocurrency to replace the Rupee. In what seemed like a jovial response but clearly carries a lot of meaning, Dr Swamy said the paper currency will continue as one cannot go to a vegetable market and buy groceries with cryptocurrency - indicating that it's not only a question of establishing a new 'currency' but that the entire ecosystem in India would have to be redefined, and all the challenges that entails.

Another Twitter user spoke about the volatility of cryptocurrencies and asked for his view on "whether the Indian Government will ban cryptocurrencies in India or get it under a certain framework?"

To this, Subramanian Swamy responded that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) which is the regulatory authority of the banking system and currencies in India had banned cryptocurrencies in 2018, but the Supreme Court reversed the RBI's decision calling the ban as arbitrary and unreasonable.

Subramanian Swamy in a webinar on Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies

In a webinar titled 'Cryptocurrencies: Navigating Pros, Cons & Human Impact' hosted by the Virat Hindustan Sangam (a platform helmed by Subramanian Swamy) on its YouTube channel, Swamy first gave a history of the beginning of goods exchange, barter, which included difficulties in matching two parties' demands.

After running through Gold-backed paper currencies, then the delinking with gold and predominance of Fiat currencies which are the current standard, Dr Swamy came to Cryptocurrencies.

"Government of India is resisting its coming but then in many countries, it is now becoming an integral part,” noted Swamy before opening the questions to the panelists. He also said that it is "unstoppable" and therefore, called for its greater understanding. Subramanian Swamy's daughter Dr Gitanjali Swamy also partook in an in-depth discussion on the same in the same webinar. She linked the system of Cryptocurrency and blockchain technology to that of Indian Wedding. She also highlighted the revolutionizing aspects of blockchain technology and also spoke about the drawbacks which pose challenges to adapting the technology on a wider scale.