The secretary of economic affairs in India has disclosed that the consultation paper of the government on the topic of cryptocurrency is almost ready. He elaborated that the Indian government is considering a global paradigm where these digital assets are concerned. He also emphasized that there was a need of developing a broad framework that could be used by all economies. On Monday, Ajay Seth decided to provide an update on the progress that the Indian government has made when it comes to developing a crypto policy for the country. He discussed the consultation paper of the government on this topic.
Not only did he say that it was ‘fairly ready’, but also stated that they had dived deep into the crypto world and had consulted institutional stakeholders in the country. In fact, he said that they had gone as far as discussing with international organizations, such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank. Therefore, Seth said that they were hoping to put the final touches on the consultation paper soon. It had been reported back in April that the finance ministry in India had reached out to numerous stakeholders for discussing a regulatory framework for crypto.
These included the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the World Bank, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and also the International Monetary Fund (IMF). At that time, even the IMF had stated that India was giving crypto assets a priority. Apart from cryptocurrencies, Seth also talked broadly about ‘digital assets’. He stated that however they decided to deal with these assets, they have to have a broad framework where every economy is together. According to the government official, they had talked about this time and again and a number of other countries had also talked about the same. He said that the US treasury and even the IMF had also talked about this.
He said that a ‘global paradigm’ was the need of the hour where these digital assets are concerned. He then talked about the need for arriving at a global consensus in the case of crypto assets. Seth affirmed that India would first evaluate the policies and regulations that other countries have imposed on cryptocurrencies before they come up with their own policies. He elaborated once more that global consensus was only possible if there was a broad framework that exists that allows all countries to participate.
Nirmala Sitharaman, the Finance Minister of India, had stated back in April that they would not make the decision about crypto regulation in a hurry. She said that they needed to take their time in order to be sure that they are making the right decision with the information they have available. Crypto regulation has been a hot topic in India since the beginning of the year. The controversy had started with a bill to ban cryptocurrencies in the country altogether that had been put on the agenda for discussion in the winter session of the parliament, but that had never happened.
