Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stressed the importance of international cooperation to regulate the crypto sector. She also confirmed that the Indian regulator’s crypto awareness campaign will continue to warn people about the risks of investing in crypto.
Indian Finance Minister on crypto regulation, legislation, and awareness campaign
India’s Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, answered several questions on crypto at a press conference on Monday. She said.
In India, crypto is on the G20 agenda. This is because we believe that the creation of technology-driven crypto assets and the trading of assets in the crypto world requires international cooperation.
“The reason is they can operate anywhere but in India, or they can operate in India but somewhere else,” the Indian finance secretary added.
Sitharaman also addressed the issue of young Indians, especially students, putting their pocket money into risky crypto assets in hopes of getting bigger returns.
“On the issue of the concern that you raised about young people getting into it, we have both the regulator and the National Security Deposit Center and they have also done a lot of campaigning. And this campaign has been going on every now and then to warn them that it is a high risk area and they need to be aware of it,” she elaborated. Indian regulators launched a crypto awareness campaign in January. The Finance Minister noted that the government aims to educate people about crypto and make them aware of the potential risks involved.
Regarding the cryptocurrency bill, which the government has been working on for quite some time, the Finance Minister said.
Discussions are continuing on the bill and we will let you know if there are any updates.
Sitharaman recently revealed that he is in detailed discussions with G20 members on how to regulate crypto so that India can establish a Standard Operating Protocol (SOP). The government plans to introduce measures around crypto this year, officials said earlier this month. Meanwhile, the government is imposing new crypto tax penalties.
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