India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called on governments around the world to work together on cryptocurrency. He pointed out that “the kind of technology involved, the choices made by any single country will not be enough to meet its challenges.”
Indian Prime Minister is calling on “every country, every global authority” to work together on cryptocurrency
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke on cryptocurrencies at the World Economic Forum’s virtual Davos Agenda conference on Monday.
“The challenges we face are also increasing. Counteracting this requires collective and synchronized action by all countries, by all global authorities. These supply chain disruptions, inflation and climate change are examples of this. Another example is cryptocurrency,” Prime Minister Modi said, elaborating:
The type of technology involved, the choices made by any single country, will not be enough to meet its challenges. We must have a similar mindset.
This isn’t the first time Prime Minister Modi has called on countries to cooperate on cryptocurrency. In December last year, at the summit hosted by US President Joe Biden, he said that cryptocurrencies should be used to strengthen democracy. In November, he urged countries to work together on bitcoin and cryptocurrency to ensure it doesn’t fall into the wrong hands.
The Indian government has been working on a regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies for quite some time. A bill titled “The Cryptocurrency and the Regulation of the Official Digital Currency” was listed for Parliament’s winter session, but was not acted upon. The government is now revising the bill. According to reports, Modi will make the final decision on India’s cryptocurrency regulation.
However, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has urged the Indian government to ban cryptocurrencies outright. At its recent Central Board meeting, the central bank said a partial ban will not work. The RBI has repeatedly warned of the risks that cryptocurrencies pose to the country’s financial system. The Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM), an offshoot of the nationalist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, has also called on the Indian government to ban cryptocurrencies.
The Indian crypto industry is currently seeking clarity regarding taxation in the Union Budget 2022-23. The effort came after the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) raided major crypto exchanges and found massive tax evasion.
Meanwhile, neighboring Pakistan is also working on its regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies. The country’s central bank, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), recently recommended a total ban on the cryptocurrency.
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Kevin Helms
As an Austrian economics student, Kevin discovered Bitcoin in 2011 and has been an evangelist ever since. His interests lie in Bitcoin security, open source systems, network effects and the interface between economics and cryptography.
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