Weeks after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley informed the Parliament that cryptocurrency was not a legal tender in India, it has been reported that Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio is planning to launch its own virtual currency- JioCoin.
According to a report in Mint, Reliance plans to hire 50 young professionals to work on blockchain technology. Blockchain technology is a decentralised digital ledger in which transactions made in cryptocurrencies are recorded chronologically and publicly.
“There are multiple applications of blockchain (for the company). The team would work on various blockchain products,” the report quoted a source as saying.
While the JioCoin plan is still in initial stage, the official did tell the business daily as to how Reliance Jio could use the new technology.
“It can be used in supply chain management logistics. Loyalty points could altogether be based on JioCoin,” he said. The company’s new venture will be headed by Mukesh Ambani’s son Akash Ambani.
The report comes barely a fortnight after the Finance Ministry and the RBI clearly stated that the creation, trading or usage of virtual currencies as a medium for payment were not authorised by the central bank or monetary authority.
Finance Ministry Arun Jaitley underlined that the virtual currencies including Bitcoin don’t have any intrinsic value and are not backed by any kind of assets.
