Leading crypto players in India likely to meet with Indian government next week to give inputs
- India’s Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance has listed a meeting with the leading crypto players in India on its agenda for Monday, November 15.
- As reported earlier, India is looking at taking a softer stance on cryptocurrencies amid growing crypto investors and increasing blockchain adoption.
- Rather than ban the crypto industry outright, like China, India is likely to go down the regulation route with a new crypto law expected to be tabled during the ‘Budget Session’ of Parliament in February 2022.
The Indian government is looking to take a
softer stance on cryptocurrencies with the burgeoning number of investors in the country, more crypto companies coming in and the growing adoption of blockchain technology. And, it’s going to host its first-ever ‘official’ meeting with the top stakeholders in the country next week.
The lower house of parliament (Lok Sabha) has
listed the meeting as “Hearing of the views of associations, industry experts on the subject of ‘CryptoFinance’: Opportunities and challenges,” to be hosted by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance on November 15.
Invited are the members of the India Internet and Mobile Association (IAMAI) Blockchain and Crypto Assets Council (
BACC) like CoinSwitch Kuber,
CoinDCX, WazirX, Unocoin and others. BACC’s board is responsible for overviewing compliance for crypto exchanges with a set of self-regulatory guidelines which prevent against money laundering, terrorism financing, and other illicit activities.
It’s not that these players haven’t been in conversation with the government in the past but that has mostly been
off-the-record. This time around, the committee led by Lok Sabha member and junior minister of finance, Jayant Sinha has reportedly sent across a list of questions for BACC members to address, according to the
Economic Times,
Why is the government asking India’s top crypto players?
The Indian government’s change in stance, from wanting to ban cryptocurrencies back in February and now looking into the possibility of coexistence, has it asking crypto players, “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.”
Sources told the Economic Times that the government is looking for answers to questions like the potential of the crypto industry’s to India’s digital ambition and its economy and its impact on the Indian rupee.
It’s a big step to take amid repeated warnings from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) over the past year on the ‘
grave concerns’ it has with respect to cryptocurrencies. The central bank
banned cryptocurrencies altogether back in 2018 but the decision was overturned by the Supreme Court for being ‘
unconstitutional’.
“Let me reiterate that cryptocurrencies are a very serious concern as far as the RBI is concerned and we have a serious concern from the point of view of macro-economic and financial stability.”
RBI governor, Shaktikantha Das, during a Business Standard event on November 10
Despite the apex court’s ruling, banks in India continue to
remain wary of the crypto industry, and a few continue to
refrain from letting their customers transfer funds to crypto exchanges.
The meeting is reportedly set to pave the way for crypto regulation in India, likely to be tabled during the February ‘Budget Session’ of Parliament in 2022.
