Representatives of crypto exchanges, Blockchain and Crypto Assets Council (BACC), industry bodies and other stakeholders will submit their suggestions before a parliamentary panel chaired by BJP leader Jayant Sinha on Monday.
This is the first meeting on the subject convened by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance and India’s first-ever official interaction between government officials and crypto stakeholders.
Before this, crypto stakeholders have been in informal talks with government officials, but India’s government has yet to take a formal stance on the use of cryptocurrencies in the country.
The meeting will be held in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the parliament, on the topic – “Hearing of the views of associations, industry experts on the subject of ‘CryptoFinance’: Opportunities and Challenges.” It could likely pave the way for official recognition of cryptocurrencies in India.
The meeting precedes the cryptocurrency bill speculated to be in the works and which is likely be presented by the government later this month during the winter session of the parliament.
“We have called stakeholders from across the industry, including operators of major exchanges, members of CII, as well as academics from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad, who have done a very thorough study on the crypto finance,” Sinha told PTI.
“We will hear from them about their views on the right regulatory framework for this industry as it continues to develop and evolve,” he said.
The meeting comes days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a high-level meeting with officials from various ministries and RBI on the issue of cryptocurrency. The two main issues highlighted during the meeting were the over-promising and lack of transparency associated with cryptocurrencies.
Top sources present in the meeting hinted that the first regulation from the government on cryptocurrencies might bring legal curbs against misleading and non-transparent advertising. The sources indicated that the unregulated crypto market should not become a portal for money laundering and terror financing.
In early March 2020, the Supreme Court had nullified the RBI circular banning cryptocurrencies. Following this, on February 5, 2021, the central bank had instituted an internal panel to suggest a model for the central bank’s digital currency.
Until now, the exchanges have been running on self-regulatory guidelines, mostly set in place by the BACC board, ensuring their compliance with all the players in the industry. The government’s intervention with its own set of regulations could change the structure while bringing a much-needed official acknowledgement to the new mode of finance in the country.
