India’s Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, talked about crypto and its future in India during the roundtable discussion hosted by Stanford University on 28 April. She stated that India is taking a cautious approach when it comes to crypto regulations. In addition to that she said “it has to take its time to be sure that at least with the given available information, we are making a discernible decision. It can’t be rushed.” However, the Indian crypto community believes that the Indian government has double standards when it comes to crypto adoption.
Sathvik Vishwanath, the co-founder and CEO of Unocoin, tweeted on 29 April after the finance minister’s Stanford speech, challenging the government’s haste when it comes to crypto taxation.
Then why was it a rushed decision about taxes on crypto? 😂 #reducecryptotax #faircryptotax Day-86 #IndiaWantsCrypto @Unocoin pic.twitter.com/sBTwXaQcr3
— Sathvik Vishwanath (Unocoin) (@sathvikv) April 28, 2022
Nischal Shetty, founder of WazirX also posted a clip from her FM interview, emphasising the concerns she highlighted about cryptocurrency acceptance. Many crypto investors criticised the government in the comments section of his thread. The complexity of cryptocurrency and digital asset legislation, and the impact of judgement like this will have on crypto investors and the larger financial markets, do not justify the delay.
@NischalShetty For those of you who couldn't access the video, here's the first part where the FM says India is taking a cautious approach towards #Crypto & won't rush into decisions to quicken adoption. The country will take time to reach at a conclusion by assessing all facts pic.twitter.com/iGzO0t1Vh5
— Nischal (Shardeum) ⚡️ (@NischalShetty) April 28, 2022
This is not the first time the Finance Minister has criticised cryptocurrency. Even during the IMF conference in Washington, DC on 19 April. Earlier, she also stated:
“I think the most serious concern for all nations would be money laundering and the use of currencies to finance terrorists.”
Sitharaman also 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.”
Currently, the GOI has prohibited all cryptocurrencies from being used as a payment method in India, with the exception of a few private coins to promote underlying technologies. The Reserve Bank of India is also planning to establish its own CBDC– Digital Rupee which again shows that blockchain technology is welcome in India but not cryptocurrencies.
GOI continues to say that before adopting digital assets, it’s important to figure out what they’ll be used for and how they’ll be used while the crypto community’s demand for crypto regulation is rising. The crypto community continues to believe that the delay in crypto regulation is slowing down tech growth in India.
