Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, on March 14, said India would not “shut off all cryptocurrency” but would allow “experiments” with the technology behind the alternative form of payment.
“From our (the finance ministry’s) side, we are very clear that we are not shutting all options. We will allow certain window for people to do experiments on blockchain, bitcoins, or cryptocurrency,” Sitharaman said at the India Today Conclave.
The minister said since financial technology (fintech) companies rely on the blockchain, which is considered to be the backbone of cryptocurrencies, they should have a window function. She said Cabinet is preparing comprehensive rules on cryptocurrencies.
“It (Cabinet note) is nearing completion, and then it would be taken for the Cabinet, of course. The Supreme Court had commented on the cryptocurrency. We are very clear that the Reserve Bank will take a call on official cryptocurrency,” she said.
Addressing a meeting being called in Gujarat city, Sitharaman said many fintech firms had advanced. The ministry has got several showings too. She wished to take their work in a substantial means to IFSC or Gift City in Gandhinagar.
Earlier on March 10, India’s leading cryptocurrency players, represented by the IAMAI (Internet and Mobile Association of India), requested the government not to veto cryptocurrencies’ vital mechanism from regulating the ecosystem is required.
Sitharaman had recently said the government would take a “calibrated” technique to crypto trading, and “negotiations and discussions” are going on with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on how to operate cryptocurrency in India. She has already said the government is preparing a bill on cryptocurrencies after an inter-ministerial panel suggested a ban.
