Trades using the digital currency, or the e-rupee, in the government securities secondary market went live on Tuesday, recording a total value of Rs 275 crore. The number of trades, on the first day of the pilot project, was 48.
The banks transacted 24 deals worth Rs 140 crore in the 7.38% 2027 bond,
23 trades worth Rs 130 crore in 7.26% 2032 bonds and one transaction in 6.54% 2032 bond.
“Since this was the first day, some deals only in liquid bonds were settled using CBDC,” a trader with a state-run bank said.
Also read: Digital Rupee: RBI’s Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) pilot starts – What should retail users know?
As has been mentioned, the first use case of e-rupee is the settlement of secondary market transactions in government securities. In this regard, the entire process of e-rupee issuance, redemption, along with trading and settlement, was successfully tested on the first day of the pilot. Features like instant creation and issuance of currency and atomic settlement (i.e. simultaneous settlement of fund and securities) of bilateral transactions were operationalised.
On Monday, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced the first pilot of the CBDC (central bank digital currency) in the wholesale format. Nine banks are participating in the pilot including State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Union Bank of India, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Yes Bank, IDFC First Bank and HSBC.
In the next phase, the central bank proposes to launch the digital rupee in the retail segment in a month in select locations and for closed user groups comprising customers and merchants. The operational guidelines for retail use will be issued in due course, the regulator said. It “will provide the users the same experience of dealing in currency in digital form, without any risks associated with private cryptocurrencies,” the RBI had observed in a concept note.
