Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that all cryptocurrencies won’t be shut off. The announcement has come at a time when Bitcoin is trading around $60,000. What does it mean for the cryptocurrency world? Money9 spoke with S C Garg, the former finance secretary and Nischal Shetty, founder, WazirX on the issue.
Garg said the report of the inter-ministerial committee on cryptocurrencies is in the public domain. The committee was headed by Garg. It recommended a ban on cryptocurrency. It also recommended a lot of motion for blockchain and blockchain-based financial products. “So, it was a balanced report, which said outlaw the currency aspect of it. But promote the other aspects of cryptocurrencies, especially using the key technologies of blockchain and cryptography,” he added.
Commenting on the statement by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Garg said “the statement is by and large in line with what the report said. The FM was not very explicit in saying the currency aspect and distinguishing it from other aspects. I, at least read it this way, that the currency aspect is something which will be probably taken action against, but the other aspects of cryptos, whether it’s an asset or something else might find… and that’s, what is the most constructive way to go,” he said.
Nischal said, “I think, what FM has said that India wouldn’t sit aside when the rest of the world is getting into cryptocurrencies. And I think that’s a very positive hope. As an industry, I think we also agree that the currency in our country should belong to the sovereign and private players should not be allowed to launch or issue currencies. Now, everyone’s divided in what is a currency and what are the other types of cryptocurrencies out there. And the fact that cryptocurrencies are divided into four major categories starting with, let’s say, the currency is one category and the second is an asset. The third is utility and the fourth is security. Now, the asset utility part is where current cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum fall under. So, I think if the intention is to prevent Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as a payment instrument in the country, everyone in the industry aligns with that thought.
So now the only question is how do we, as a nation regulate those assets and utility aspects of cryptocurrencies? I think that’s where all the unknown are because I think the currency aspect, everyone is sort of in sync with. So now we are all looking forward to the asset and utility. There is no law or regulation that we’ve heard of.”
