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Anurag Thakur, India's Minister of State for Finance, said the government should study the national security risks posed by virtual currencies before deciding on their legality.
- "We understand there is a lot of interest in these virtual currencies," Thakur said at an Entrepreneurs' Organization Punjab event on Saturday. "But we also need to look at national security and the security of Indians and individuals."
- Thakur poked fun at cryptocurrencies' high price volatility, claiming that these coins frequently chart 10x price moves in weeks. "That doesn't happen in fiat currencies," Thakur said, referring to the Indian rupee and the US dollar.
- Billionaire investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, dubbed "India's Warren Buffett," recently expressed similar concerns, describing bitcoin (BTC, -1.29 percent) as "high-order speculation."
- In March 2020, the Indian Supreme Court overturned the Reserve Bank of India's two-year-old banking ban on cryptocurrencies, bringing relief to the Indian crypto community.
- The Indian government, on the other hand, is preparing to introduce a bill in parliament that would prohibit private cryptocurrencies during the current budget session.
- According to Thakur, the Indian government has formed a high-level Inter-Ministerial Committee to look into cryptocurrency, and may present a legislative proposal in Parliament based on the committee's recommendations. The government welcomes new technology like blockchain, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a strong advocate of embracing technology in various fields.
- Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Friday that the government is still forming an opinion on cryptocurrencies and will take a measured approach.
Source: Bityard (https://support.bityard.com/hc/en-us/articles/900004829606-Blockchain-News-Before-deciding-whether-or-not-to-ban-cryptocurrency-India-needs-to-assess-the-risks-according-to-a-minister-)