New Delhi: A parliamentary committee on finance is likely to hold a meeting of top stakeholders of the crypto industry on Monday to discuss the opportunities and challenges. The meeting expected to be a closed-door one will be attended by people from top crypto exchanges, members of the Blockchain and Crypto Assets Council (BACC) among others, according to the Economic Times.
The BACC is part of the Internet and Mobile Association of India. Such a meet is going to be held for the first time where the government committee has invited industry stakeholders for a discussion on the industry.
The discussion with stakeholders comes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi had chaired a meeting on the way forward for cryptocurrency as a result of the rising number of advertisements, featuring even film stars, promising easy and high returns on investments in cryptocurrencies, which are not legally recognised in India.
What was the aim of the meet chaired by Modi?
"The government is cognizant of the fact that this is an evolving technology, it will keep a close watch and take proactive steps. There was also consensus that the steps taken in this field by the government will be progressive and forward-looking," news agency PTI reported on Saturday.
The meeting was a comprehensive one and there were also discussions regarding how to stop non-transparent and over-promising advertisements that mislead young investors, ANI tweeted. It was also discussed that unregulated crypto markets cannot become avenues for money laundering and terror financing, said ANI’s tweet.
The government will continue to speak to experts and other stakeholders of the industry on the issue. Since the issue cuts across geographical borders, the government also felt that it will require global partnerships and collective strategies.
The meeting chaired by PM was an outcome of a consultative process as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Ministry of finance, the home ministry did an elaborate exercise in which global and Indian experts were consulted and global examples and best practices studied.
Earlier, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das reiterated his views against allowing cryptocurrencies saying they are a serious threat to any financial system since they are unregulated by central banks.
In March 2020, teh top court had nullified the RBI circular banning cryptocurrencies. Following this on February 5, 2021, the central bank had instituted an internal panel to suggest a model of the central bank's digital currency.
RBI had announced its intent to develop an official digital currency due to the proliferation of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin about which the central bank has had many concerns.