TL;DR Breakdown
- Indian prime minister holds meeting with stakeholders on crypto future.
- Crypto India should be worried as govt is disturbed by deceitful crypto ads.
- Parliament to hold more meeting to decide future of crypto in India.
The Indian government on Saturday held a meeting described by crypto India as what may have determined the future of cryptocurrency in the country. The Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and several stakeholders were present at the meeting, where they deliberated on the way forward for cryptocurrency.
After the meeting, it is safe to conclude that the country is planning progressive and forward-looking measures on issues related to cryptocurrencies, a move that could be a departure from its earlier attempts to restrict the use of digital assets.
After the meeting, anonymous sources revealed that it was decided that the government will continue to proactively engage with experts and other stakeholders on the evolving technology in crypto India.
Why crypto India should be worried
One source of worry for the government is that they “strongly feel” that advertisements by cryptocurrency exchanges that promise customers wild profits and are not transparent about the volatile nature of such trading must be prohibited, according to a memo outlining the summary of the meeting.
They reached a consensus that irresponsible advertisements are misleading youths in the nation and must be stopped as there has been a spike in the number of such ads reportedly.
Leading crypto exchanges have also joined to launch such ads in the country, which many have deemed highly irresponsible. More details on the meeting were not shared.
India and cryptocurrencies
There have been calls in India to impose stricter rules for transactions in virtual coins as an unregulated environment may push more domestic savings toward the asset class and could endanger household savings.
India has had a hot-and-cold relationship with digital currencies in the past few years.
Lawmakers in India, where there isn’t an official framework to oversee cryptocurrency and their trading, have held conversations with several crypto India stakeholders in recent quarters to formulate a path forward for the industry.
The move comes as an increasingly growing number of Indians are beginning to buy Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies for the first time in their lives. The Reserve Bank of India remains a critic but is now working on a digital currency.
However, one clear thing is that private cryptocurrencies will be approved as legal tender, but then, they may be allowed as assets in which people can make their investments.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance will be meeting with stakeholders from the cryptocurrency ecosystem on November 15 to seek their opinions.
Opinions shared during the course of the PM’s meeting and those sought in the parliamentary panel sitting will directly influence the final draft rule to be tabled at the Parliament.
