The committee set up by the Indian government to explore cryptocurrency regulations remains undecided about whether to legalize Bitcoin or not.
India has emerged as a strong cryptocurrency market, thanks to increased adoption among the people in the past few months. It has also influenced the government to consider cryptocurrency regulations.
Recently, an inter-ministerial committee was set up to explore the type of regulations that might be required to govern the use of cryptocurrencies within the country. As the committee continues to weigh their options, Indian media outlets have reported an official close to the deliberations stating that Bitcoin may not gain a legal status within the country anytime soon.
According to the official, even though the government may not confer a legal position to Bitcoin, it would definitely assign a regulatory body to monitor the cryptocurrency’s use. The official gave a brief update about the industry interaction saying,
“We have had five meetings have consulted all ministries, public, stakeholders, (exchanges such as Zebpay and Unocoin). We will submit the report by July-end.”
There are speculations that Securities and Exchange Board of India may fill in the position by regulating the presently unregulated cryptocurrency exchange platforms in the country. And, the Reserve Bank of India may come into the picture if the government does indeed decide to go ahead and designate Bitcoin as a currency.
The Indian government’s move to consider Bitcoin regulations was welcomed by the country’s cryptocurrency community. The committee comprising of officials from the Finance Ministry, NITI Aayog, Ministry of Information Technology, State Bank of India and the Reserve Bank of India are involved in the study of usage trends of cryptocurrency within the country and whether it needs to be regulated or legalised.
If India does indeed legalise Bitcoin, then it will join the likes of Japan and maybe even Russia as the Eurasian nation is currently planning to make the digital currency legal within its boundaries.
On the other hand, the Indian government may also decide to monitor the cryptocurrency market for some more time before taking a definite call on it.