7 October 2022
Indian Lawmaker Provides An Update On Cryptocurrency Legislation
Jayant Sinha, a lawmaker of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the chairman of India’s Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance, has explained that Crypto legislation in India will be “distinct and unique.”
During an event organized by the Blockchain and Crypto Assets Council (BACC) of Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), Jayant Sinha said that “we have to balance stability and growth but we recognize how important this whole area of crypto is.”
The chairman of India’s Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance expressed that India can't adopt the cryptocurrency policies used in advanced economies because the nation still does not have a full capital account convertibility. He also clarified that Indian Cryptocurrency policies won't follow the countries that made Bitcoin its legal tender.
Adding Further, the lawmaker of BJP emphasized, “Our solution will have to be distinct and unique simply because of our unique circumstances. We have to balance stability and growth but we recognize how important this whole area of crypto is.”
Moreover, he remarked that the committee will consider Cryptocurrency legislation with national security in mind, stating, “We have to be very watchful about what happens to these crypto-assets and cryptocurrencies. Use of these kinds of crypto instruments in terror financing and for domestic security threats is something we have to be mindful of.”
In addition, R.Gandhi, a former deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), asserted that crypto must be regulated as an asset or commodity in India and governed by existing laws. R.Gandhi explained that “Once cryptocurrencies are accepted, rules governing commodity exchanges could apply and the coins could be used to pay for goods and services,” Bloomberg conveyed, and quoted him as saying, “Then automatically people can start buying, selling and holding.”
Besides, a recent report revealed that the government of India is planning to regulate Cryptocurrency assets as commodities and by use cases. Earlier, there were reports of the government planning to ban all cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, allowing only central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) to be issued by the RBI. However, now the Central Bank of India is planning to Unveil a digital rupee model by 2021.