‘Crypto is Harmless,’ Says Indian IT Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar

• Indian Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar addressed the ITech Law International Conference 2023.
• Chandrasekhar claims cryptocurrencies are harmless if the users adhere to the rules and regulations of crypto.
• The minister added that India would one day lead the blockchain industry.

Rajeev Chandrasekhar, the Indian Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology and Skill Development and Entrepreneurship addressed the gathering at the ITech Law International Conference 2023 held in Bengaluru, India. He shared his opinions on the goodness of crypto commenting that crypto is harmless if the laws are implemented and followed correctly, contradicting the central bank’s position to ban crypto.

Previously, at the Banking and Economy Summit in Mumbai, the RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das opinioned on behalf of the RBI, that the crypto trade, which is equivalent to “gambling”, should be banned:

Anything whose valuation is dependent entirely on make-believe is nothing but 100% speculation, or to put it blatantly, it is gambling. In our country, we don’t allow gambling. If you want to allow gambling, treat it as gambling and lay down rules.

In contrast, Chandrasekhar advocated crypto and explained the legal procedures one should be aware of prior to entering into the crypto trade:

There is nothing today that outlaws crypto as long as you follow the legal process. If you want to invest in crypto, make sure you go through the RBI, get your LRS eligibility, and the dollars as per rules.

Additionally, Chandrasekhar talked about the Government’s initiative to implement less prescriptive and more principle-based acts to support startups and innovative ecosystems including the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, the National Data Governance Framework, the upcoming Digital India Act, and the amended IT rules.

Moreover, the MoS added, “India will lead the world in all things blockchain- both in size and scale and how we migrate to web 3.0.”