India’s Crypto Action Awaits Analysis on Nation-Specific Characters and Risks: Finance Ministry

India is standing on the cusp of embracing the crypto sector, but well within a concrete legal framework to safeguard its nationals against any financial risks. Before that happens, the country is laying focus on assessing the impacts and risks that crypto could pose on its existing financial systems. This update was shared recently by Pankaj Chaudhary, Minister of State for Finance. Chaudhary, this week, told the Rajya Sabha that New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration has accepted the crypto roadmap that was recently finalised by the G20 nations to be adopted.

“All jurisdictions, including India, are expected to evaluate the country specific characteristics and risks in order to reach an appropriate consideration of any necessary measures on crypto assets,” Chaudhary reportedly told the Upper House in a written statement.

The crypto roadmap that the G20 nations have finalised under India’s Presidency this year leaves a margin for emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs) to customise the listed laws to better suit their economic and legal stances.

“India has been ranked at the top in grassroots crypto adoption, according to the Chainalysis 2023 Global Crypto Adoption Index. No wonder then, that it is critical for India to develop a robust crypto asset regulatory framework that ring fences the ecosystem from bad actors and unscrupulous incidents, while promoting innovation and providing Indians the opportunity to be a part of this exciting new global emerging tech, and in fact lead this change. We welcome the Finance Ministry’s response in the Parliament today on measures for effective regulation of crypto-assets,” said R Venkatesh, SVP and Head of Public Policy at CoinSwitch.

As of now, no deadline has been issued to the G20 nations concerning the adoption of the crypto roadmap. For India, the deployment of these final crypto laws could still be at least 18 months away. This information was disclosed by Jayant Sinha during the India Blockchain Week that is being held in Bengaluru. As the Chair of the Standing Committee on Finance in India’s Parliament, Shah is a parliamentarian from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

“Regulators and policymakers are responsible, not just on the innovation side, which of course we want to encourage, but also on the safety side. We have to really find that balance and that balance is going to evolve over the next 12 to 18 months,” Coindesk had quoted Sinha as saying at the time.

Meanwhile, Chaudhary also told the Rajya Sabha that the government, as of now, is not registering foreign crypto exchanges that gives them a legal permission to operate in the country.