Media: India to study regulating Bitcoin as a digital asset

The Indian government will discuss creating a committee to study the regulation of cryptocurrencies as digital assets. The Economic Times (ET) reports, citing informed sources.

The committee will also consider various use cases for blockchain. The initiative is at an early stage of discussion; no official decision has yet been made.

In 2019, a government-formed working group concluded that the underlying value of the new financial instruments was ‘no value’, and recommended banning them. According to the publication’s source, some officials consider those findings outdated.

According to ET, the Indian Finance Ministry is monitoring the growing turnover of cryptocurrencies in the country and is discussing potential regulatory risks with stakeholders.

A Union Minister of State for Finance, Anurag Thakur, may join the committee. It is reported that he had previously discussed the matter with representatives of the banking and cryptocurrency sectors.

Since April 2021, Indian companies are required to report on transactions involving digital assets, including volumes, as well as advances and deposits ‘from any persons’.

According to the media, the local Parliament considered a bill to ban cryptocurrencies during the recent budget session.

In February, Bloomberg reported that if a ban is introduced, holders would have three to six months to close their positions.