The Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) on Wednesday appealed to the Central government not to ban cryptocurrency, suggesting that regulation was a better option.
India's burgeoning crypto industry is facing an existential crisis as the government seemed on track to introduce a bill in the current session of Parliament to ban all cryptocurrencies so that it could launch a digital version of the rupee. Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur had told parliament last month that “existing laws are inadequate to deal with (cryptocurrencies).”
The industry is now hoping for the best after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman commented this week that the government will take a “calibrated" approach to crypto trading and that “negotiations and discussions" were going on with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on how to regulate cryptocurrency in India.
According to the association, India's crypto community is now one crore strong, holding over one billion dollar worth of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and the likes. More than 300 startups employ tens of thousands of Indians in this line of business, generating a daily trading volume of anywhere from $300 million to $500 million.
“The proposed move to ban will have an adverse impact and will lead to loss in investments and hit 10 million Indian crypto customers,” said a statement issued by IAMAI. “Hence, we are urging the government to define the cryptocurrency regulation framework after due consultation with IAMAI and stakeholders such as India crypto-asset user groups and the exchanges that facilitate buying and selling.”
“Keeping in sync with our Prime Minister’s Aatmanirbhar Bharat campaign, it is important that India remain competitive in the public blockchain ecosystem (which cannot exist without crypto). We look forward to participating in the regulatory process to help formulate the right crypto policies for India,” added Nischal Shetty, founder of WazirX, one of India's leading cryptocurrency trader.
Rahul Pagidipati, CEO, ZebPay, said, “We welcome the finance minister's latest remarks and also the Minister of State for Finance Anurag Singh Thakur’s comments that, 'we must always evaluate, explore, and encourage new ideas with an open mind'", Pagidipati, added, “If all stakeholders—industry, individuals, and policymakers—work together with this attitude, we're confident India can create a policy framework that allows us to lead the world in this revolution.”
