Today, India’s Finance Minister (Nirmala Sitharaman) addressed the nation over the new crypto policy implementation while delivering his keynote speech at the “money at a crossroad” forum. The event was attended by top economists worldwide, including a representative of the IMF (Kristalina Georgieva).
There Is A Need For A Universal Crypto Regulation – Indian Minister
The minister also called on the IMF to establish a global crypto policy to ensure that these digital assets are used legitimately. Other notable personalities who participated in the discussion include Brazil’s apex bank President and the head of Singapore’s monetary authority.
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The Indian minister opined that there is a need for world leaders to liaise and develop a detailed crypto policy to ensure that these digital assets aren’t used to finance terrorism or for any other illegal purpose.
Sitharaman added, “crypto needs to be regulated with modern technology, and the technology needs to be constantly updated as the need arises. Hence, the best option would be for many countries to liaise and develop the appropriate policy and technology together. It is almost impossible for one nation to handle this issue independently. There has to be a uniformity of policy for this kind of policy to be effective.”
Sitharaman also expressed his concerns over the risks involved in using unhosted crypto wallets for global remittances. According to him, monitoring money flow across the border is highly risky. Despite the minister’s request for a universal crypto policy, Indians have demanded a crypto regulatory framework from Indian authorities since 2016.
Controversy Trails India’s New Crypto Tax Law
Instead, the Indian regulators introduced a highly disputable crypto tax policy where crypto holders are mandated to pay a 30% tax and another 1% when making any crypto transaction. Many crypto players have condemned the actions of the government. They also opined that the new law would cause a severe retrogression to the burgeoning crypto space in the country. A 2021 Chainalysis data showed that India is the second-fastest nation in crypto adoption.
Following the implementation of the new policy, many crypto players have started finding new crypto-friendly climes to move their business to such locations. Today, WazirX (a leading Indian crypto exchange) announced plans to relocate its business to Dubai.
Many more of these crypto firms will likely follow in their footsteps. Nearly all crypto exchanges have suspended deposits on their platforms through the UPI (India’sIndia’s nationally-approved payment interface). Even though many authorities’ perspective about crypto is that it can only be used for illegitimate purposes, a new Chainalysis data has revealed that this isn’t true.
The report showed that there had been a gradual decrease in the use of virtual currencies for fraudulent purposes. The report added that cryptos are easier to track than fiat. Hence, many fraudsters struggle to move any illegally acquired cryptocurrencies.
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