Key Takeaways
- India finance chief responds to questions from legislators
- Cryptocurrencies are not considered legal tender in India
- Controversial crypto bill not mentioned by the minister of finance
Shri Pankaj Chaudhary, the Minister of State for Finance, responded to several questions from legislators on August 2. He stated that the finance ministry does not collect information from exchanges or traders. The financial chief also noted that the ministry was yet to be informed about any financial crimes perpetrated within exchanges in the country.
Legislators further inquired about the current crypto regulatory framework. Chaudhary replied by explaining that at the moment, crypto service providers are regulated by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). He added that all regulated entities must follow existing AML and KYC requirements to mitigate criminal activities on their platforms.
When quizzed on whether the government was working on crypto trading regulations, the finance minister noted that cryptocurrencies are not legal tender. The government was working towards eliminating the use of crypto-assets for illicit purposes.
He also added that the inter-ministerial committee (IMC) had recommended that all cryptocurrencies apart from a national digital currency be prohibited in the country. He also concluded that the government already had a crypto framework available for consideration.
Chaudhary's comments follow previous stances from government officials in India. Cryptocurrencies are viewed with claims that they are used for illicit transactions and funding terrorism. Claims that have proven to be untrue with recent data stating that fiat currency is still the primary source for illegal financial activities.
The highly controversial crypto bill was not mentioned by the finance minister and appeared to be under wraps at the moment.
What do you think about the answers to the crypto questions the minister of state for the finance ministry?
