The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance, industry associations and experts on crypto finance agreed on Monday that the use of cryptocurrencies should not be banned in the country, but it should be regulated, PTI reported.
The parliamentary panel headed by Bharatiya Janata Party MP Jayant Sinha held the first-ever meeting on cryptocurrencies with industry stakeholders.
Currently, there are no regulations or a ban on the use of cryptocurrencies in India.
“We have called stakeholders from across the industry, including operators of major exchanges, members of CII [Confederation of Indian Industry] as well as academics from the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, who have done a very thorough study on the crypto finance,” Sinha had told PTI ahead of the meeting.
Unidentified sources said that matters regarding security of investors’ money were raised by MPs at the meeting, ANI reported. A few members were also apprehensive about cryptocurrency being used for terror financing.
Some Congress members in the panel told PTI that there are significant challenges in banning cryptocurrencies. One of the panel members also questioned how cryptocurrencies could be regulated when even regulating the internet remains difficult.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also chaired a meeting on Saturday on issues related to cryptocurrency on Saturday, ANI reported. Last week, Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das last week had said that cryptocurrencies could threaten the financial system since they are unregulated by central banks, according to PTI.
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