TL; DR Breakdown
- Minister wants a crypto regulation to block illegal use of crypto
- Lekhi is wary of attacks against India
- India continues to deliberate on crypto regulation
Over the last few months, India has been involved in some turmoil regarding crypto regulation. While some entities are pushing for an outright ban of the assets, others want regulation to guide their activities in the sector. In a recent statement from a minister in the country, digital assets need to be completely blocked if they are used to carry out illegal activities.
Lekhi is wary of attacks against India
According to Meenakshi Lekhi, the minister in charge of India’s external affairs, India should not hesitate to block the usage of the assets if their use threatens the integrity of the country. Besides working on the external affairs front, Lekhi also doubles as the minister in charge of culture in the country.
She has been serving in her capacity in the last two tenures, which were decided by an election in May 2014 and 2019. She gave her opinion at the technology summit that her ministry held last week. In her opinion, the crypto regulation must ensure that digital assets should be banned if they will be instruments used to launch attacks against India, among other illicit activities that they can be used for. However, she mentioned that she already expected the ministry of finance and the IT department of the country to be on top of the issue.
India continues to deliberate on crypto regulation
In her opinion, Lekhi also feels that most of the entities that float crypto exchanges are always trying to block tax. She mentioned that there are a lot of individuals in the country who are making profits and spending them without paying their dues in tax. Meanwhile, there are reports that India has continued to edit its digital asset bill in the last few weeks.
The bill is scheduled to be reviewed at the lower Indian Parliament house known as Lok Sabha. While all and sundry have said much regarding crypto regulation in the country, it is left to Narendra Modi, the prime minister, to give his final verdict. Modi has been known to have a favorable stance with digital assets after he advised world leaders to use them to foster democracy across the world.
Reports also claim that India is moving towards banning digital assets used for payments in its crypto regulation. However, the Reserve Bank of India is still not moving from its position of an outright ban on the usage and trade of digital assets across the country. The premier bank also mentioned that the government cannot announce a partial ban on the asset because it will not be effective.
