G20 Group Takes Up Crypto Regulation; Says Finance Minister

• Nirmala Sitharaman told that the G20 Group has been discussing about taking up crypto regulation collectively.
• She added that the Government of India has been taking efforts to introduce crypto regulations.
• According to her, the decentralized space should be regulated by forming an SOP.

Nirmala Sitharaman, the Finance Minister of India, during a meeting with the Reserve Bank of India’s Central Board of Governors on Saturday, told that the G20 Group, the intergovernmental forum comprising 19 countries and the European Union, has been analyzing whether the team could collectively fix regulations on cryptocurrencies.

Notably, Ms. Sitaraman commented on the need to form a collective regulatory approach to the “heavily tech-led” decentralized crypto space:

Crypto is heavily tech-led and less of human intervention. We are talking to all nations that if a regulation has to be framed then one country cannot frame it alone. So we are speaking to all for forming a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) so that it is effective.

Significantly, the government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been discussing the necessity of drafting a set of laws to regulate cryptocurrencies for a long period.

Nonetheless, so far no active regulatory laws have been implemented by the government. Touching upon the reality, the Finance Minister has quoted on several occasions about India’s relentless efforts in implementing a global regulatory system to help crypto assets from terror funding and frauds.

Though the Indian Government and the Reserve Bank have not been showing much interest in decentralized assets, in recent years, they exhibit a greater curiosity towards digital assets, especially the Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs).

Notably, the previous year, the Prime Minister commented on the emergency of a collective global effort to confront the threats posed by cryptocurrencies.