Prime Minister Narendra Modi today chaired a crucial meeting on the way forward for cryptocurrency and related issues, news agency ANI first reported citing government sources.
The crucial meeting comes when the parliamentary panel on finance is scheduled to meet crypto industry officials on Monday – the first formal meeting by any state body. Cryptocurrencies are a very serious concern from a macroeconomic and financial stability point of view, RBI governor Shaktikanta Das said on Wednesday.
The Indian government has been delaying the crypto regulation bill for the past one year. The government which proposed a blanket ban earlier has softened its stance on cryptocurrencies in recent months.
It was also discussed that unregulated crypto markets cannot be let to become avenues for money laundering & terror financing. Govt is cognizant of the fact that this is an evolving technology hence the government will keep a close watch and take proactive steps: Govt sources
— ANI (@ANI) November 13, 2021
The meeting was a comprehensive one and there were also discussions regarding how to stop advertisements that over-promise and mislead the young investors. Leaders across the political parties have raised concerns about the ads promising unreal returns.
“The meeting chaired by PM Modi on the way forward for cryptocurrency and related issues was also an outcome of a consultative process as RBI, finance ministry, home ministry had done an elaborate exercise on it as well as consulted experts from across the country and world,” news agency ANI quoted the sources as saying.
Since the issue cuts across individual countries’ borders, it was felt that it will also require global partnerships and collective strategies: Govt sources
— ANI (@ANI) November 13, 2021
“While the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is open to using the technology behind cryptocurrencies, it is not in favour of making them legal tender as these currencies are highly volatile and a threat to the financial stability. Most of the government departments concur with RBI, but they are under pressure from various lobby groups who want a status quo. A final view will, however, be taken by the top leadership,” an official was quoted by the Hindustan Times.
“The government is cognizant of the fact that this is an evolving technology; hence the government will keep a close watch and take proactive steps,” sources told ANI.
