India is likely to introduce a roadmap for regulating virtual assets such as cryptocurrencies. On Thursday, Economic Affairs Secretary Ajay Seth in an interview said that the government is working with Financial Stability Board (FSB) to at least build a policy for crypto assets along with a regulatory framework. The same is expected to be agreed upon during India's G-20 presidency itself.
Seth in an interview with PTI said, "we had a one-and-a-half-day workshop. Thereafter, they are drafting a paper for a seminar, which will be conducted on the side-lines of G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting in Bengaluru that is scheduled on February 23."
This seminar is expected to come up with a policy consensus on crypto assets.
He added, "we are also working with the FSB and the idea is that during India's presidency at least the policy stance to crypto assets, as well as the roadmap for regulation, is broadly agreed upon among the G-20 members."
Notably, between January 15 and 16, in the capital of India, the IMF paper on crypto assets was discussed among major economies.
India assumed the presidency for G-20 for 2023, which began on December 1, 2022, and will end on November 30, 2023.
The 43 Heads of Delegations- the largest ever in G20-will be participating in the final New Delhi Summit in September this year.
Apart from a regulatory roadmap on virtual assets, multilateral institutions, and food and energy are some of the other key reforms that are likely to be brought up for discussion under India's G20 presidency.
The need for regulating cryptocurrencies came into the spotlight as the market faced a massive blow since last year with illiquidity, the collapse of renowned stablecoins, and the bankruptcies of several crypto exchanges.
The United Kingdom, which India surpassed last year to become the fifth biggest economy, on Wednesday, announced its plan to regulate crypto and protect consumers.
The UK government will set out ambitious plans to robustly regulate crypto asset activities – providing confidence and clarity to consumers and businesses alike. Under the plans, it will seek to regulate a broad suite of crypto asset activities, consistent with its approach to traditional finance, as per the UK government website.
On the other hand, the United States regulators have disqualified crypto assets such as Bitcoin, Ether, and various others as securities.
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