India Proposes Development of Standard Operation Protocol in G-20 for Crypto Regulation

The Finance Minister of India while answering a question in the lower house said that standalone protocols will not be effective to regulate cryptocurrency. 

As cryptocurrencies are becoming more popular in the country, stakeholders in the country are expecting the government to work towards bringing regulations to the crypto world. As India is presiding over the G-20 summit, the expectations from the government to bring global consensus on an SOP are higher than ever. 

However, the Ministry of Finance and its representative including Mrs. Nirmala Sitharaman, Finance Minister of India, have repeatedly informed the citizens that cryptocurrency regulation is one of the ‘working priorities’ during India’s presidency of the G-20 summit. 

During the question hour of the Lok Sabha, T Sumathy, Member of Parliament, DMK asked the government if it is ready to regulate Virtual Digital Assets and Web 3.0 solutions. In reply to this, Mrs. Sitharaman said that any regulation without international cooperation would be ineffective as the technology involved in VDAs is completely decentralized. 

"In the G20, we're raising it and having detailed discussions with members so that a standard operating protocol emerges which results in a coherent, comprehensive approach where all countries work together in bringing some regulation," 

Mrs. Finance Minsiter emphasized the fact that the government is having detailed discussions with world leaders about bringing a standard operation protocol for crypto regulation. The development of an SOP is not easy as bringing global consensus on standard regulations for highly volatile security is a herculean task. The government has already shared that it is working with G-20 nations on policies regarding blockchain adoption and crypto regulation. 

The government has also said on multiple occasions that cryptocurrencies are one hundred percent legal in India, contradictory to common belief. One can freely trade, store, and send cryptocurrencies from India with one percent TDS on each transaction. 

"There is nothing today that outlaws crypto as long as you follow the legal process." - MoS Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology.

The message from the government is clear that it does not want to miss the technological advantage that India can develop in blockchain technology. India is home to the world’s leading blockchain minds and a firm regulatory mechanism can propel the growth in the country to another level. 

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