Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Deputy Governor remarked on Monday that cryptocurrencies are similar to Ponzi schemes or even worse, and that banning them is the most rational solution for India.

In a speech, T. Rabi Sankar said, "We have also seen that cryptocurrencies are not susceptible to definition as a money, asset, or commodity; they have no underlying cash flows, no intrinsic value; that they are analogous to Ponzi schemes, and may be even worse."

"All of these considerations led to the conclusion that prohibiting cryptocurrencies is arguably India's best option."

Last week, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das issued a strong caution against investing in cryptocurrencies, claiming that they lacked the underlying value of even a tulip, a reference to a speculative bubble that engulfed the Netherlands in the seventeenth century.

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