Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that India‘s G20 presidency aims to develop a common framework for all countries to deal with risks associated with cryptocurrencies. Industry players believe that such a move will help in the further development of Web3 technology globally.

She also urged potential investors not to rely on write-ups, written by someone sitting outside the country, for making decisions here. She made these observations during two of her meetings on the first day of her week-long tour of US to attend International Monetary Fund (IMF)-World Bank meeting.

In an interaction on ‘Resilience of the Indian economy amidst tightening of financial conditions’ at Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington, Sitharaman reiterated India’s stand on cryptocurrency. “Cryptocurrencies are a very important part of the discussion under the G20 India’s Presidency, given so many collapses and shocks in cryptocurrencies. We seek to develop a common framework for all countries to deal with this matter, she said.

Her remark has come at a time when the crypto market is trying to recover after last year’s episode of FTX’s bankruptcy, and its spat with Binance which triggered a huge sell-off in the market and reduced liquidity. This event made the world realise the vulnerability of this asset class as they do not have any underlying value.

Also read: BL Explainer: The FTX saga and its fallout 

Taking note of remarks made by the FM, Rahul Pagidipati, CEO, ZebPay expressed confidence that a regulatory framework ensuring investor protection and a less restrictive tax policy will enhance the growth and adoption of crypto in India and around the world. “We look forward to working with regulators and policymakers to create a healthy regulatory environment that fosters innovation and promotes responsible usage of digital assets,” he said.

Taking this forward, Pratik Gauri, Co-Founder & CEO, 5ire, feels reaching a consensus between parties on virtual assets would be quite challenging, given that various countries, even developed economies in the G20, have primarily embraced it with precautionary measures. “What remains challenging is the innovation occurring in digital assets. Laws have had a challenging time as is with digitally produced assets, both in monetary terms and in the art world. It will be interesting to see how India addresses it to get the world to get behind the effort to regulate virtual currencies,” he said.

Investment

Meanwhile, addressing a roundtable meeting on the theme “Investment opportunities for the long term: India on the Rise,” Finance Minister said that foreign investments have kept coming to India. “I would tell the prospective investors to come & look at what’s happening in India rather than listening to perceptions being built by people who’ve not visited the ground but writing reports,” she said.

Talking about goals of India for the next 5 years, the finance minister said, “Today, we are reaching saturation in providing basic facilities to citizens such as houses, electricity, transport, etc and are empowering them. Emphasis is there on financial inclusion so that all have bank accounts and benefits reach them directly.”

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