Indian government denies plans for a full ban on cryptocurrencies

Finance Minister Sitharaman says reports of an outright ban are exaggerated.

Reports of a total ban on cryptocurrencies in India are exaggerated, said India’s finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in a CNBC interview.

Finance Minister @nsitharaman says “Govt. wants to ensure there’s a window for experiments in cryptocurrency space”. ⁰Time for India to innovate and shine!@FinMinIndia pic.twitter.com/fbSH2hzTC4

— BlockchainedIndia (@blockchainedind) March 6, 2021

She added that the government continues talks and discussion with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on regulating cryptocurrencies, but the rules will not be as harsh as previously anticipated.

In her words, authorities will take a “balanced stance” and want to ensure there is a window for experimentation in the cryptocurrency space.

“The world is rapidly evolving together with technology. We cannot pretend that we don’t want this. I can give you only one hint: we are not closing our minds and we are certainly exploring how experiments in the digital world, in cryptocurrency and so on, could take place,” the minister said.

In January it emerged that Parliament would, during the upcoming budget session consider a bill to ban cryptocurrencies. The document also provides for establishing a regulatory framework for the RBI’s official digital currency.

Earlier, Balaji Srinivasan, former Coinbase CTO, called the proposed ban ‘a $1 trillion mistake‘ for India.

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