Digital Leader India Must Build INR Stablecoins Or Face Dollar Domination: Coinbase CEO
India risks ceding its monetary influence in the digital economy to dollar-backed stablecoins unless it creates a regulated rupee-denominated alternative, even as the country is uniquely positioned to lead blockchain-based payments because of its world-class digital public infrastructure, Coinbase Chief Executive Officer Brian Armstrong said.
Speaking in an interview with Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath, Armstrong argued that India has the ingredients to become a global leader in on-chain finance, thanks to the success of Aadhaar, UPI and other digital public infrastructure (DPI). But without an INR-backed stablecoin, Indian users and businesses could increasingly rely on US dollar-pegged tokens such as USDC and USDT for payments, savings and cross-border transactions, extending the dollar's influence into blockchain-based finance.
"Every country should have its own fiat currency represented on-chain," Armstrong said, adding that stablecoins are becoming foundational payment infrastructure rather than merely crypto trading instruments.
The comments come as policymakers globally race to establish stablecoin frameworks, with jurisdictions including the US, Singapore, Hong Kong and the UAE moving to regulate fiat-backed digital tokens as blockchain-based payments gain traction. For India, the debate carries additional significance. The Reserve Bank of India has championed the retail and wholesale Digital Rupee while maintaining a cautious stance on privately issued crypto assets. At the same time, policymakers have yet to announce a regulatory framework for rupee-backed stablecoins, creating uncertainty for companies exploring tokenised payments and settlements.
Armstrong's remarks effectively frame the issue as one of monetary sovereignty rather than cryptocurrency adoption. If regulated rupee stablecoins are unavailable, businesses seeking the speed and programmability of blockchain payments may naturally gravitate toward dollar-backed alternatives that already dominate global crypto markets.
He also highlighted India's scale as an advantage. India has emerged as one of the world's largest crypto markets by users and developers, while its digital public infrastructure has demonstrated that large-scale, low-cost digital payments can be deployed nationwide. That combination could make the country a natural candidate to extend its payments leadership onto blockchain networks, he said.
Rather than prohibiting the sector, Armstrong called for clear regulation that would allow compliant innovation while safeguarding consumers and the financial system. Stablecoins, in his view, should be treated as regulated financial infrastructure capable of reducing the cost of domestic and cross-border payments.
The remarks are likely to add momentum to India's emerging debate over whether its digital currency strategy should rely solely on the RBI's central bank digital currency, or also permit regulated private-sector rupee stablecoins to compete with the growing influence of digital dollars.
India's central bank has urged policymakers to sharply distinguish speculative cryptocurrencies from tokenized real-world assets, signalling that while blockchain-based financial innovation may be encouraged, private crypto assets and stablecoins should remain outside the country's regulated financial system.
The position, outlined by senior Reserve Bank of India officials before a parliamentary panel examining virtual digital assets, offers one of the clearest indications yet of how India's crypto policy could evolve: permitting tokenization of regulated financial assets while maintaining a restrictive approach toward cryptocurrencies. Deputy Governor Rohit Jain and Executive Director P. Vasudevan presented the RBI's views before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance chaired by BJP Member of Parliament Bhartruhari Mahtab. The committee has held seven rounds of consultations with regulators, enforcement agencies, tax authorities and industry participants, and is expected to submit its recommendations in the coming months.