India Is About to Review Its Dismal Cryptocurrency Regulations

The Indian government is seeking to adopt a friendlier approach to digital assets amid the uncertainty of its stance on cryptocurrencies. And the donation of Vitaly Buterin has made a great progress in this direction.

Indian Crypto Policy and Regulation

At the end of March, the government of India amended the law, according to which private and state-owned companies were required to disclose their crypto assets. This came a few weeks after the finance minister made remarks that overshadowed the country’s cryptocurrency policy. The country has had a shaky relationship with digital assets — a situation that has left citizens confused.

According to a report by The Economic Times published on Tuesday, India is currently exploring the possibility of regulating cryptocurrencies. The report, citing three sources with knowledge of the matter, details the panel of experts who will explore this option. The report says that discussions are only at an early stage, and no firm commitments have been put forward.

The committee will treat cryptocurrencies as digital assets, rather than as a currency — a view that other Indian cryptocurrency exchange operators have already adopted. In July 2019, a previous group led by Subhash-Chandra proposed a complete ban on cryptocurrency. However, in March 2020, the Supreme Court defended crypto users, ruling that the ban was illegal. The government seems to agree with this, judging from the way it has called Subhash Garg’s recommendations outdated:

“There is a perception that the recommendations made by Subhash Garg and the Committee are outdated and a fresh look is needed, not a complete ban,” an unnamed official told the newspaper.

Garg seems to have changed his mind and is already in favor of rules for crypto assets, rather than a ban, although in February he demanded the opposite from the Official Delhi. There are also reports that India’s junior finance minister, Anurag Thakur, is likely to head the new commission. In short, there was a fuss in the government about the crypt, and apparently, the reason for this was the act of our former compatriot Vitaly Buterin.

A small push to give jet speed

Vitalik Buterin, the 27-year-old founder of Ethereum, last Wednesday donated $ 1 billion to support Covid-19 relief efforts in India, arguably the largest charitable contribution to help Covid-affected Indians from any country, or individual.

The bottom line is that the donation was made in cryptocurrency, and therefore, how can it be banned after that? And the crypto community only benefits from such a gambit, as the views of regulators have become diametrically opposed.

Not only that, reports show that Thakur has already made progress, meeting with key players in the country’s cryptocurrency and banking industries. There seems to be some truth in this, given that not so long ago, Thakur and the current finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, made public that the country is taking a “calibrated” approach to regulating digital assets.

It is reported that the ministry is considering the current status of cryptocurrency trading. The team approved by Sitharaman will have to submit a report on this matter by the end of the month. As far as the cryptocurrency bill which was originally planned to be discussed in March, is postponed to the next session of parliament during the rainy season, the situation with cryptocurrency in the country remains unclear.

Source: https://news.bit.team/india-is-about-to-review-its-dismal-cryptocurrency-regulations/