India Is Finalizing a Crypto Consultation Paper, Says Govt. Official

Key Insights:

• The Indian government is ready with a consultation paper on cryptocurrencies.
• Economic Affairs Secretary Ajay Seth said that a global consensus is needed to deal with crypto challenges.
• Simultaneously, the government calls for global regulation and what India can play.

The crypto industry in India has been struggling to cope with unclear rules, market volatility, and payment processors cutting off exchanges. The industry has been looking forward to a crypto bill in order to get some clarity on how the government seems to treat cryptocurrencies in India.

While the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has consistently batted for a complete banning of cryptos like bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH), the government has maintained that it was keen on regulating the sector instead of an outright ban.

A crypto consultation paper on the way

Speaking at an event organized by the country’s Finance Ministry, the economic affairs secretary Ajay Seth said that a consultation paper on cryptocurrencies is “fairly ready.”

According to local sources, Seth called for a global consensus on crypto regulation. The paper is a result of consultation from various domestic and international players, including the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. He noted, 

“Digital assets, whatever way we want to deal with those assets, there has to be a broad framework on which all economies have to be together. No country can choose to either of the position. We need a global consensus on crypto regulation.”

He added that India would observe crypto regulations across the globe before deciding how it would regulate. 

“We hope that we will soon be in a position to finalize our consultation paper. Simultaneously we are also beginning our work for some sort of a global regulation (to determine) what role India can play.”

The intention of releasing a crypto consultant paper is to convey that there has to be a “broad framework and participation of all countries,” and cryptos can’t succeed unless there is a global consensus, he noted.

In the virtual 2022 World Economic Forum’s annual Davos conference, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi also stressed the same. He said that cryptos are an example of the challenges that we are facing.

“To fight this, every nation, every global agency needs to have collective and synchronized action.”