The Indian government committee may reportedly legalize cryptocurrencies in the country. This will be done with the introduction of a tight regulation for digital assets. Initially, there was a complete ban on cryptocurrencies was suggested in December by the previous Indian government committee. According to the ban, “any kind of dealing in such currencies should be treated as ‘illegal.’”
According to an article in TheNewIndianExpress published on Wednesday, December 27th, an interdisciplinary committee formed by the government to investigate the cryptocurrency and blockchain is against an outright ban. RBI banned banks dealing with crypto users & industry in April 2018. Seeking ways in order to survive, a petition was filed to the country’s supreme court by Indian cryptocurrency exchanges as a result of which government was ordered to provide guidance by the year-end. And then this inter-ministerial committee was led by Subhash Chandra Garg, the Department of Economic Affairs secretary.
An anonymous senior official said, “We have already had two meetings. There is a general consensus that cryptocurrency cannot be dismissed as completely illegal. It needs to be legalized with strong riders. Deliberations are on.” The official also added that the committee members “have also taken inputs from cryptocurrency exchanges and experts,” stating that they will work on the legal aspects with the help of India’s law ministry. This committee was formed in April 2017, by the Indian government. It involves revenue secretary, members from Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, RBI and Securities and Exchange Board of India.
According to the Buenos Aires summit, in the early December, there held a meetup between G20 countries for the taxation of cryptocurrencies & regulation to prevent the use of digital assets for money laundering. And since the members of the interdisciplinary committee participated in those G20 meetings, one of the officials told New Indian Express:
“We have also taken inputs from cryptocurrency exchanges and experts and will be examining legal issues with the law ministry. It’s a complicated issue. Once all aspects are decided, then we will have more clarity.”
Therefore, the article is apparently highlighting the softened stance by the committee while developing an “appropriate legal framework to ban the use of private cryptocurrencies in India.”
