Crypto India: Parliamentary Panel to discuss Pros and Cons of Crypto Today

Amid rising concerns about the future of decentralized industry in India, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance has scheduled a meeting with industry experts to discuss the subject of “CryptoFinance: Opportunities and Challenges”, at 3 pm today. The parliamentary panel is to be chaired by the ruling party’s MP and former union minister, Jayant Sinha. Before the panel, Blockchain and Crypto Assets Council (BACC), eminent crypto exchanges, institutions, and investors, along with stakeholders will argue their stance on the pros and cons of the decentralized market, further discussing its impact on regulation and policymaking in the nation.

“We have called stakeholders from across the industry including operators of major exchanges, members of CII as well as academics from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad, who have done a very thorough study on the crypto finance,” Sinha told PTI.

India stands divided on Crypto Regulations

Last week, the Indian crypto community was alerted by Prime Minister, Narendra Modi’s exclusive comments on the decentralized industry, levying crypto ads as ‘misleading’ to the investors, given its nature to “over-promise” along with lack of transparency. According to the Press Trust of India, PM Modi’s recent meeting with stakeholders regarding the future of cryptocurrency in India, on November 13 highlighted the problem of maliciously misleading crypto advertisements by industry players. Furthermore, this meeting was followed by the Indian Central Bank governor, Shaktikanta Das’ anti-crypto statements, asserting that virtual currencies are a very serious concern for the macroeconomics of the nation as well as from a financial stability point of view. However, it was unsurprising given the governor’s formerly conservative financial stances.

While on one hand, Indian regulators are carving out policies to curb the expansion of crypto, on another hand, the Indian economy is growing into one of the fastest crypto adopters globally, with billions being invested in the crypto market. Last month, the Indian crypto trading startup, COINSWITCH Kuber acquired unicorn status with an investment collaboration by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and COINBASE Ventures, which invested $260 million in the start-up, at a valuation of $1.9 billion.