Reserve Bank of India (RBI) unveiled a framework for fintech sandbox, in which blockchain companies can also take part. However, cryptocurrency startups will not be allowed to the central bank project.

RBI releases draft “Enabling Framework for Regulatory Sandbox” https://t.co/ajDgRIxrN7

– ReserveBankOfIndia (@RBI) April 18, 2019

"The proposed financial services, which will be launched in the regulatory sandbox, should use new or actively developing technologies, or apply existing solutions in a new context to solve a specific problem and provide benefits to users," an RBI statement said.

The technology regards the technology of the distributed registry and smart contracts as innovative areas that need to be developed in the sandbox.

At the same time, any type of cryptocurrency business will not be able to participate in the initiative. This prohibition applies directly to cryptocurrency protocols and services related to trading, investing or concluding transactions with digital assets. Also, RBI is not going to work with ICO startups and even some traditional financial service providers.

RBI is looking for solutions in the field of retail payments, money transfers, digital identification and mobile payments.

Note that the central bank of India has long been known for extreme hostility against cryptocurrency. Last April, RBI prohibited regulated financial institutions from providing services related to digital currencies to corporate or private clients.

Representatives of the local cryptocurrency business and the community filed a number of complaints and petitions to the lower courts, which ultimately forced the Indian Supreme Court to consider the legitimacy of the RBI decision. However, following the results of the hearings on July 3 and 20 , the restrictions of the central bank were left unchanged.

Already in early 2019, it became known that individual bank accounts in India can be blocked without any warnings if the client is involved in cryptocurrency-related activities.

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