YV Reddy came to IIT hyderabad college campus.

He has several credentials. He was the governor of RBI and also was an IAS officer. He has been awarded the Padma Vibhushan.

I got an opportunity to ask questions to him. Roughly, this was the discussion.

Me: Sir, what is your opinion about cryptocurrency? Why does the RBI have an enmity towards cryptocurrency?

YV Reddy: Cryptocurrencies are not a legal tender.

Me: Sir, but gold is also not a legal tender.

YV Reddy: Gold is one exception. Gold is generally accepted store house of value.

Me: So if cryptocurrency is accepted by general public, the RBI will be favourable to it?

YV Reddy: (After a pause) At times of economic uncertainty, the government buys gold. Since gold is sovereign backed, it can be a exception.

I did not continue the conversation. But one thing I should have said is that cryptocurrency is used more as an asset than an currency. It is used as an asset like gold, real estate and foreign currency. Hence it doesn’t matter if it is a legal tender or not. Gold is not a legal tender. RBI is for regulating currencies, not assets.

Additionally YV reddy accepted that RBI does not enjoy autonomy. He said that if an IIT professor has to be removed from job, there are lot of formalities. But the same is not true for removing an RBI governor.

Here is the photo of me asking him questions.

Photo taken by Dr. Megh Mehta.

Update : RBI removed the banking ban on crypto in India