Indian economic survey highlights crypto concerns

The Indian annual Economic Survey has been published and crypto concerns have been extensively discussed.

The crypto industry was covered in detail in this year’s Economic Survey, and findings from the survey, a summary of which was covered in the Indian-based Business Standard, suggest that there should be an emphasis on an international collaboration in order to bring crypto into a globally recognised regulatory framework.

In the Survey much was made of the FTX collapse, the ensuing bankruptcy, and the fact that the former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried was the subject of a fraud case in the US.

Once again, the term “no intrinsic value” was levied at cryptocurrencies, given that the government perception was that crypto could not be termed as a financial asset.

The Survey looked at how regulations were in other countries and made the case for a much harsher regime in India. It recommended:

“Global standards need to be comprehensive and consistent; regulatory responses must be based on standard taxonomies, reliable data to address contagion effects, and flexible enough to be adjusted in the future based on market developments and future international standards,”

The Business Standard also published remarks from those within the cryptocurrency industry which were a reaction to the Economic Survey. Ashish Singhal, co-founder of CoinSwitch, was favourable to the Survey. He said:

“While taking a cautionary approach to crypto, the Chief Economic Adviser suggested that regulators could consider centralized intermediaries as systemic financial market infrastructures. This is in contrast to alarmist calls to ban or simply wish away crypto. As the Survey puts it, there is a need for a common approach to regulating the crypto ecosystem. Our hope is India too will move in this direction and not take any regressive measures on crypto.”

Edul Patel CEO and Co-Founder of Mudrex was quoted as saying:

“Effective regulation is crucial for fostering innovation and combating money laundering and fraud. As cryptocurrencies are global, India cannot regulate them alone, and calling for global standards that can be adapted to future international standards is a progressive step.”

He added:

“With India holding the presidency of the G-20 summit this year, the topic of cryptocurrency is also being discussed among the member countries. This provides India with the opportunity to set the tone for global regulation of cryptocurrencies.”

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.