Former Secretary of Economic Affairs of India Subhash Chandra Garg believes that crypto assets should be regulated as exchange commodities and not be used as currencies.
Garg announced this during an online conference with the CEO of the Indian cryptocurrency exchange WazirX Nischal Shetty and the founder of the research company Crebaco Siddharth Sogani.
In 2019, Garg headed the commission on the preparation of a draft law providing for a ban on cryptocurrencies, according to which, in some cases, issuers, traders and cryptocurrency holders face imprisonment for 10 years and a fine of up to Rs 25 crore (about $ 3.3 million).
The Indian cryptocurrency community was deeply concerned about this bill, so Garg decided to discuss it with industry representatives for the first time. The legislator clarified that this bill does not imply the complete elimination of cryptoassets from India's financial system.
Garg said he favors the use of cryptocurrencies as regulated goods, but digital assets cannot function as currencies in the country. If someone presents "computer code" as a digital asset that users will invest in, it should be considered a commodity.
Accordingly, such an asset should be regulated on a par with traditional exchange-traded products, and anonymous cryptocurrencies should be completely banned in the country. At the same time, Garg spoke positively about the digitization of state currencies. He noted that the cryptocurrencies of the Central Bank will provide firms or individuals with better financial services.
The former Secretary of Economic Affairs of India sees no point in using cryptocurrencies and believes that they will not be popular among the general population. However, he said that unlike cryptocurrencies, distributed ledger technology has promising prospects as there are many use cases for blockchain in the financial industry.
In response, Nishal Shetty said that cryptocurrencies are essential to blockchain development. Shetty gave Garg an example that in order to keep Ethereum running, transactions in ETH are necessary. He suggested that cryptocurrencies should not be perceived as liquidators of the Indian rupee, but as an alternative means of payment, especially when there is no way to use traditional money.
In turn, Siddharth Sogani noted that blockchain and cryptocurrencies are a new technology that "is based on practical experience, not theories from books." The government should not ban cryptocurrencies out of fear, but should understand how they work and help develop the industry.
Recall that in April, Nishal Shetty noted a significant influx of traders to the WazirX platform after the lifting of the ban of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on banking services for cryptocurrency companies.
Great article