India’s finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, delivered a compelling case on Tuesday for worldwide regulation of cryptocurrency to reduce the risk of money laundering and terrorist funding.
Her statements came during a session at the International Monetary Fund’s ongoing spring conference in Washington, D.C.
“I think the most serious concern for all nations would be money laundering and the use of currencies to finance terrorists,” Sitharaman added.
Sitharaman stated that technology-based regulation is the only way to deal with cryptocurrencies, and that it must be “so adept” that it is “not behind, but ahead of the curve.”
The finance minister highlighted India’s achievements in the digital world and the government’s efforts over the last decade to build the country’s digital infrastructure framework, emphasising the government’s increased rate of technology adoption during the COVID-19 pandemic.
During an IMF-hosted high-level panel discussion, Sitharaman stated that as long as digital assets were utilised for non-governmental reasons through unhosted wallets, regulation would be nearly impossible.
Regarding taxes on money created by virtual asset transactions, Sitharaman said that it is a method of verifying the source and trail of the funds, but not of legitimising them.
