Cryptocurrencies are being considered for collective regulation by the Group of 20 (G20) nations, according to India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. India is this year’s G20 president and will host the finance ministers and central bank governors of the G20 group this month.
This follows on from comments by India’s finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, who believes that due to the sophistication of the technology involved with virtual assets, countries need to discuss whether a given regulation is even necessary.
The Indian government has been debating a law to regulate or ban cryptocurrencies for several years but has yet to make a final decision.
Sitharaman went on to say that India is speaking with all nations in order to establish a standard operating procedure for regulatory frameworks when it comes to virtual assets.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called for a collective global effort to deal with the problems posed by cryptocurrencies.
On the other hand, the Reserve Bank of India has time and again said that cryptocurrencies should be banned as they are similar to a Ponzi scheme. RBI had earlier restricted banks from providing services to crypto exchanges as a result of which Indian investors faced difficulties in buying and selling cryptocurrencies using crypto exchange as a medium. It was then ruled out by the Supreme court of India, and was lauded as a historical win of the whoe Indian crypto community over RBI.
However, RBI has kept their stance on cryptocurrencies same, and in an interview recently, the RBI Governer, Shaktikanta Das compared cryptocurrencies with Ponzi schemes with no underlying value. He further said, crypto is “nothing but gambling.”
Since we don’t allow gambling in our country, and if you want to allow gambling, treat it as gambling and lay down the rules for gambling. But crypto is not a financial product – RBI Governor, Shaktikanta Das
Cryptocurrencies do not qualify as financial assets due to their absence of intrinsic cash flows.
Cryptocurrencies are proving difficult to regulate for global regulators due to their fast-moving and uncharted nature, according to a new report. The widespread geographical presence of the cryptocurrency ecosystem requires a unified approach to regulating these unstable instruments.
Reports suggest that the topic of regulating crypto assets has become increasingly relevant in the policy agendas of numerous nations. Both the OECD and G20 are exploring the possibility of a coordinated global approach to regulating cryptocurrencies.
This month’s gathering of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors is anticipated to bring greater clarity regarding the future of cryptocurrencies and the potential for collective regulation.