'Cannot Be Currencies': FM Nirmala Sitharaman Spells India’s Stance on Crypto

Sitharaman was speaking at the India Today Conclave 2024 on Friday when she was asked if the recent bull run in the crypto sector had nudged to government to think about the position of cryptocurrencies in India's financial space.

In response to the question, Sitharaman reportedly said, “Its (the government's) position has always been this, that assets created in the name of crypto can be assets for trading, assets for money making and assets for many other things. We haven't regulated them then, and we haven't regulated them now. But they cannot be currencies and that's the Government of India's position.”

Sitharaman's statement comes when the crypto sector is on an upward trajectory. Owing to a massive inflow of capital into BTC through US-approved ETFs, Bitcoin price surged to an all-time high of over $73,700 (roughly Rs. 61 lakh) this week. Most popular cryptocurrencies tailed behind BTC on the surge trail, taking the crypto market capitalisation to over $2.7 trillion (roughly Rs. 2,23,78,585 crore).

In fact, earlier this week, the chief of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) cited some of these crypto features while addressing concerns around a potential investor exodus from the traditional markets space towards options like crypto.
The Indian finance minister, however, maintained an unfazed approach towards the developments currently shaping the crypto industry. She also explained the government's reason of drafting a crypto roadmap for the G20 nations under its presidency last year.“Currencies are to be issued with a fiat of the government or the central bank of the day. And it is still unregulated in India. If one country regulates it and others don't, it will be an easy way of moving money, round-tripping, funding drugs or even terrorism.
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