India is Planning to Release a Discussion Paper Policy For Cryptocurrencies by September: Ajay Seth
After consulting with various stakeholders, India is going to release its crypto policy strategy by September.
RBI and SEBI stand out with crypto currency as digital assets pose macroeconomic stability risks for the emerging nation.
Pic by istockphoto
We can say cryptocurrency became legit when the Union Budget 2022 introduced a 30% tax on income from the transfer of any virtual digital asset (VDA), commonly known as cryptocurrency. Additionally, a 1% tax deduction at source (TDS) applies to crypto transactions exceeding a specific limit.
Now the advancement and evolution are going to happen in this sector as the government is going to release its crypto policy strategy by September.
India is planning to release a discussion paper outlining its policy stance on cryptocurrencies by September, according to Senior Finance Ministry Official Ajay Seth.
“The policy stance is how one consults relevant stakeholders, so it is to come out in the open and say, Here is a discussion paper. These are the issues, and then stakeholders will give their views,” said Ajay Seth, who is the Economic Affairs Secretary in India’s Finance Ministry.
“At the moment, an inter-ministerial group is looking into a wider policy for cryptocurrencies. We expect to come out with the discussion paper before September.”
The inter-ministerial group includes India’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), and the market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). The RBI has been averse to legitimising crypto or stablecoins, seeking instead to prohibit them because, it argues, digital assets pose macroeconomic stability risks for the emerging nation. SEBI has not been opposed to regulating digital assets and has recently said that the oversight of cryptocurrency trading should be vested in several authorities.
India does not have comprehensive cryptographic legislation but has imposed stiff taxes on the sector. However, it has introduced a requirement for crypto entities to get registered with the country’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU-IND) to adhere to anti-money laundering (AML) and terrorism financing standards set by global bodies such as the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), marking a credibility shift for the industry.
As we came to know about the various data regarding cryptocurrency, we came to understand the market for it and how it evolves around the year. According to the TechSci Research report, “India Cryptocurrency Market: Industry Size, Share, Trends, Competition Forecast, and Opportunities, 2029,” the market stood at USD 221.5 million in 2023 and is anticipated to grow with a CAGR of 6.75% during the forecast period of 2025–2029.
With reference to this data, India should take some more steps to facilitate this sector through more investment and policy for regulation as well as for a stable economy.