Binance APAC Head SB Seker believes India needs its own rupee-pegged stablecoin, arguing it would let Indian users and institutions hedge against dollar volatility instead of remaining exposed to currency swings beyond their control.
“Having Indian rupee stablecoins will be critical because it allows users and institutions in India to reduce the exposure they have from a foreign exchange perspective,” Seker said.
Why Dollar-Pegged Stablecoins Still Dominate
Most global stablecoins, including $USDT and USDC, are pegged to the US dollar largely because that’s where deep liquidity and settlement infrastructure already exist.
Tron alone processes over 60% of global $USDT volume, and networks like Stellar offer near-instant settlement at negligible cost. That infrastructure advantage has made dollar stablecoins the default choice, even for corridors where the dollar isn’t the local currency, including remittances into India.
Hedging Case for an INR Stablecoin
India received $135 billion in remittances in 2025, the highest of any country. Much of that money still passes through USD conversion before reaching recipients in rupees, adding cost and delay. An INR stablecoin could let senders and recipients settle directly in rupees, avoiding that dollar detour altogether.
CoinDCX’s Sumit Gupta has argued that widespread INR stablecoin adoption could function like a modern Bretton Woods moment for the rupee, making it directly accessible internationally rather than dependent on dollar intermediation.
Where RWA Tokenization Fits In
Seker identified real-world asset (RWA) tokenization as one of India’s strongest crypto growth opportunities. While India’s regulatory approach to stablecoins is still evolving, he said states such as Maharashtra have already launched initiatives supporting RWA tokenization.
An INR-denominated settlement asset could plausibly support that ecosystem by giving tokenized assets a local-currency settlement layer, rather than forcing every transaction through a dollar proxy.
INR Stablecoins vs. the Digital Rupee
The debate also touches India’s CBDC, the e-Rupee, which has grown to over 1,016 crore in circulation with more than 70 lakh users. Gupta has argued the e-Rupee’s closed, permissioned design limits it to domestic use, unlike an open, blockchain-based INR stablecoin that could function globally.
Rather than competing outright, the two could serve different roles, one focused on domestic programmability and government disbursement, the other on cross-border settlement and global accessibility.
Regulatory Reality Remains the Biggest Obstacle
None of this resolves the RBI’s stated concerns. The central bank’s December 2024 Financial Stability Report described foreign stablecoins as an “existential threat” to monetary sovereignty. Whether an INR-denominated alternative changes that calculus, or simply introduces a new version of the same currency substitution debate, remains unresolved.
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