RBI Tests New Features of Digital Rupee: From Offline Payments to Cross-Border Trade
Date: 2025-05-30 Author: Gabriel Deangelo Categories: CRYPTO PAYMENTS
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced its intention to significantly expand the experiment on the introduction of the digital rupee. The pilot project now covers not only traditional transactions, but also advanced use cases at both the retail and wholesale levels.
The central bank digital currency (CBDC) will be adapted for specific tasks. Among the priorities is the use of the digital rupee as a tool for targeted payments from the government, as well as in cross-border trade, where the digital rupee can play the role of an alternative mechanism for international settlements.
RBI is also considering the possibility of conducting offline payments through CBDC. This opens up the prospect of financial inclusion in remote regions of India where there is no stable access to the Internet. In addition, the digital rupee is being discussed for use in enterprise platforms and decentralized financial systems (DeFi), which could enhance the currency’s flexibility and scalability.
The pilot program currently involves 17 banks and approximately 600,000 users. However, the RBI is not stopping there — the next stage of the project will be to involve non-bank institutions. They will be invited to test the CBDC in practical scenarios, including the distribution of government subsidies, tracking corporate expenses, and other forms of cash flow control.
In addition, the central bank is looking to ensure that the digital rupee is compatible with digital wallets to simplify the interaction of end users with the system. This approach will allow the CBDC to be tested in real-life conditions and identify key technical and organizational aspects before full-scale implementation.
The news has also resurfaced old concerns: the Supreme Court of India has previously spoken out critically about digital assets, equating Bitcoin transactions with a modernized form of the underground Hawala money transfer system. However, RBI's approach to the digital rupee is different in that it is a government-regulated instrument, which can minimize the risks of misuse.
India is thus taking another step towards the future of digital finance, trying to combine technological innovation with a controlled economic environment.
