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The tide may have finally turned for cryptocurrencies in India, as reports indicate a softer stance from the government on crypto.
According to a report released Thursday by The New Indian Express, the government’s hostile stance towards Bitcoin (BTC) appears to be shifting towards more sensible regulatory policies for cryptocurrencies.
According to internal sources cited by the publication, authorities have abandoned their earlier plans for a blanket Bitcoin ban in favor of classifying cryptocurrencies as an alternative asset class.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India is said to be responsible for overseeing crypto regulations in the country in conjunction with the Ministry of Finance.
These inside sources also claim that parliament will debate a comprehensive crypto regulation bill during the monsoon session that begins in July. An expert panel created by the finance ministry is reportedly studying crypto regulatory protocols and its findings could form part of parliamentary deliberations next month.
Commenting on the emerging positive signals on the crypto regulatory front, Ketan Surana, a member of the Internet and Mobile Association of India, said:
We can certainly say that the new committee that is working on cryptocurrencies is very optimistic about cryptocurrency regulation and legislation.
In May, Indiatech.org, a tech lobby group in India, urged the government to define crypto as digital assets, not currencies.
Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India remains a fierce crypto critic, with the central bank recently saying its stance on cryptocurrencies remains unchanged. However, the RBI has distanced itself from reports that it has mandated banks to block crypto exchange services.
Indeed, the Supreme Court of India in March 2020 overturned a 2018 RBI ban that banned banks from managing cryptocurrency exchanges. As previously reported by Cointelegraph, three major crypto exchanges Kraken, Bitfinex, and KuCoin are looking to enter the Indian market.
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