India Ranks First in Global Crypto Adoption

“Reassess its position? The position has always been this, that an asset created in the name of crypto can be an asset for trading, an asset for speculation, an asset for making money, an asset for many other things,” Nirmala Sitharaman said, responding to a question on whether India would reassess its position on crypto in light of the recovery in Bitcoin prices.

“We didn’t regulate it then. We haven’t regulated it even now,” Nirmala Sitharaman was quoted as saying by News. bitcoin, Monday (3/18/2024).

He added that he sees crypto as not being a currency. “That is what I have always held and that is also the position of the Indian government,” he said.

Sitharaman stressed that currency in India should be issued by the central bank, saying crypto is “an asset created for speculation, for trading, or for any purpose, and is still unregulated in India.”

India’s Finance Minister continued: “And that’s why we thought it was appropriate to raise this at the G20 because this is very much technology-driven and will have an impact on cross-border payments and so on.”

He warned: “If one country regulates it (crypto) and another country doesn’t, it will become an easy way to move money, do undesirable things, or fund drugs, or even terrorism and so on.”

“This has been very well received and I am confident there will be a framework emerging,” he said.