PTI reported that Nirmala Sitharaman, Indian Finance Minister, shared her government’s plan for crypto regulation on Saturday, before she returned to India to attend the annual meetings, IMF and World Bank.
A group of Indian journalists was informed by the finance minister that India will include crypto in its G20 presidency. She noted that different organizations have been conducting their own research about cryptocurrency.
We would like to collect all of this information and do some research, then bring it to the G20 for members to discuss and hopefully come up with a framework or SOP so that countries around the world can have a technology-driven regulatory system.
Sitharaman stated that ‘but implicit in this is the fact that we don’t want to disrupt the technology.’ “We want technology to survive, and be able to provide benefits for fintech and other industries.”
The Finance Minister referred to the Enforcement Directorate, which detects money laundering activities involving crypto assets in India and crypto trading platforms.
Sitharaman concluded that this concern was acknowledged by many members of the G20, who said yes money trail, yes cash laundering, yes drug abuse, and so forth.
We all agree that regulation is necessary. All countries must adhere to it. It is not possible for any one country to handle it all. We will have something on that.
The G20 is an intergovernmental forum that brings together the major developed and emerging economies of the world. The G20 members are Argentina, Brazil, China, France and Germany. The G20 presidency will be held by India for one year, from December 1st to November 30th 2023.
After having sat on a draft cryptocurrency bill for many years, the Indian government is working to finalize its position on cryptocurrency legality by the first quarter next year to become Financial Action Task Force compliant. The finance minister called on the IMF last month to play a leadership role in cryptocurrency regulation. The IMF stated that it is open to working with India in crypto regulation.
India is yet to create a regulatory framework for cryptocurrency. However, it already taxes crypto income at 30% and imposes a 1% tax at source (TDS), on crypto transactions. The Ministry of Finance is also reportedly looking at how the goods-and-services tax (GST), could be applied for crypto.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), however, continues to have ” serious concerns” about cryptocurrency. The central bank has repeatedly recommended a complete ban on all non-government-issued cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin and ether. The finance minister stated in July that any legislation for regulation or banning could only be effective after significant international collaboration to evaluate the risks and benefits, and evolve common taxonomy.