India’s Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman.
KEY INSIGHTS:
- India’s Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, said to The Hindu that the Cryptocurrency Regulation Bill in India is ready for the Monsoon session.
- Fresh laws regarding the regulation of cryptocurrencies in India could be a debatable point.
- The Bill wasn’t put forward earlier in the Budget session, possibly due to the rise of Covid-19’s second wave.
India’s Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, claimed to The Hindu that the Cryptocurrency Regulation Bill in India is ready and the preparation of the document has been done by the government taking assistance from industry stakeholders.
(Also read: CRYPTOCURRENCY REGULATION BILL; THE FUTURE OF CRYPTO IN INDIA)
“We have done a lot of work on it. We have taken stakeholders’ inputs. The Cabinet note is ready. We have to see when the Cabinet can take it up and consider it so that then we can move it,”
-Nirmala Sitharaman.
This could possibly mean that during the Parliament’s next session, which is supposed to take place on 19 July, fresh laws regarding the regulation of cryptocurrencies in India could be a debatable point.
During the Budget session which kicks off from February to March, the Bill was filed. However, as the terrifying second wave of Covid-19 spread like a wildfire in the country during the time, the Bill wasn’t put forward possibly due to this reason.
“From our side, I think one or two indications that I have given is that at least for fintech, experiment and pilot projects a window will be available. The Cabinet will have to make a decision.”
-Nirmala Sitharaman
Hope for Crypto in India
Cryptocurrencies’ future in India: is it positive?
The biggest issue that stands between larger adoption of crypto in India is the uncertainty of regulation. It is known by all that investing, holding cryptocurrencies, or trading is not prohibited. However, the absence of clear and direct regulations concerning crypto is a major reason as to why investors as well as the crypto industry is worried.
As of now, more than 15 million Indians are involved in cryptocurrency. As reported by Chainalysis, the investments in cryptocurrency in the last year shot up from around $200 million to almost $40 billion in India. This is still after direct animosity towards cryptocurrency by the central bank and a suggested trading prohibition. This rapid increase in interest in crypto from India is coming majorly from a group of 18 to 35 year olds, as stated by the co-founder of UnoCoin, India’s first crypto exchange established in 2013.
The Indian Government refused to introduce the previous cryptocurrency bill that proposed a 10 years imprisonment in holding, or trading Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrencies, calling it outdated. That a bill on the regulation of cryptocurrency is now ready to be put forward, is surely a notable step towards the right direction. According to notable sources keeping an eye on the industry, the Government of India is assumed to now recognize crypto for what its worth.
(Also read: IS BITCOIN THE NEW GOLD IN INDIA?)
