NEW DELHI: Digital asset firms will seek sovereign investors’ backing at a Delhi roundtable this week as India pursues faster, cheaper international payments while maintaining that replacing the dollar is outside its financial agenda.The September 12 BRICS Digital Asset Round Table will bring together 50 industry leaders at The Oberoi. Organiser Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute (SWFI) says investors attending the accompanying iBRICS summit manage $1 trillion across sovereign funds, pension funds and family offices. The figure represents assets under management.Held alongside the BRICS leaders’ summit, the industry meeting will examine linking national digital currencies and payment networks, including India’s UPI and Brazil’s Pix. Separately, companies will explore investment in infrastructure, energy, property and critical minerals through digital tokens representing rights in underlying assets.The payments argument has a practical basis. International transfers can involve several banks and currency conversions, adding costs and delays. Connecting domestic systems could shorten that chain, benefiting businesses and people sending money abroad.RBI governor Sanjay Malhotra said on August 11 that BRICS discussions covered central bank digital currencies and fast-payment links, with reducing costs a priority. The options remained under discussion. India has also supported wider use of local currencies for trade.That agenda carries diplomatic sensitivities. New Delhi has said de-dollarisation is outside its financial programme, while US President Donald Trump has threatened 100% tariffs against BRICS countries seeking to replace the dollar.India’s participation in Project Nexus, designed to connect domestic instant-payment systems, shows its engagement extends beyond BRICS. Another initiative, mBridge (Multiple Central Bank Digital Currency Bridge), was developed with China and other central banks to enable payments using central bank digital currencies. These parallel projects suggest that decisions about who governs payment networks will accompany choices about speed and cost.At the Delhi meeting, participants are expected to sign an industry charter covering issuance, custody, settlement and investor protection. Regulators and officials implementing digital currency programmes are expected as observers, organisers said.
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Linking central bank currencies, investing in tokenised projects and regulating private digital assets involve separate policy decisions. The charter would set industry principles within the rules laid down by governments. For investors, enforceable ownership and reliable custody remain central to assessing tokenised projects.“Until now the allocators of sovereign capital and the builders of those rails have sat in different rooms,” SWFI chairman Lakshmi Narayanan said. The roundtable’s proposed charter seeks to give investors and authorities a shared reference for transactions across borders.
