Differences between RBI and others on virtual currencies persist in PM’s review meet

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The Reserve Bank of India, in the high-profile meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on cryptocurrencies, is said to have strongly argued for a ban on Bitcoin and other virtual currencies, says a media report. The home ministry, the finance ministry and others wanted regulatory control over cryptocurrencies, reported The Economic Times.

ASCI may be approached

The Centre may now nudge the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) to push for greater disclosures and stricter statutory warnings on commercials on virtual currencies and their trading platforms, according to the report.

 The high-level meeting was called to discuss the way forward on virtual currencies which of late have gained wider investor attention.

According to The Economic Times, within the government, the view is that technological and digital advances need to be taken into account. Regulation is needed to bring virtual currencies under the tax net.

RBI stance

The RBI in the meeting stood by its stance that virtual currencies are intangible, making regulation and taxation challenging, the news report said.

It was also flagged that in case of chaos in the crypto market and small investors lose money, the government and the regulator would find themselves at the receiving end of public criticism, the report said,

Cryptocurrencies are also a cause of worry for security agencies as they fear the wider use of virtual currencies in money laundering and terror funding.

RBI governor Shaktikanta Das had questioned the data on the number of investors trading in them. The numbers look clearly exaggerated as the bulk of them, say over 70%, have invested only about Rs 1,000 each in cryptocurrencies, the governor had said.

Crypto exchanges have calculated that about 105 million Indians hold crypto-assets and about 1 million trade in them.

Earlier media reports have said that the upcoming winter session of Parliament may see introduction of legislation on virtual currencies.