Digital Rupee vs Stablecoins

India is running two very different experiments in digital money. One is the RBI's own e-rupee, a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in live pilot since December 2022 and legal tender in digital form. The other is the global surge into stablecoins, privately issued tokens pegged to currencies such as the US dollar, which Washington legitimised in 2025 through the GENIUS Act. The RBI's line is blunt: champion the sovereign CBDC and keep private stablecoins out of the system. It warns that dollar-pegged tokens could quietly dollarise the economy and loosen its grip on money, even as India's flat 30% crypto tax stays firmly in place.