Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi Calls on Countries to Cooperate on Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Regulation

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called on democratic countries to work together to ensure that cryptocurrencies, especially Bitcoin, do not fall into the wrong hands. Meanwhile, the Modi government is working on a regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies in India.

India's Prime Minister Modi on Bitcoin and cryptocurrency

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke about cryptocurrency, particularly Bitcoin, during his virtual keynote address at the Sydney Dialogue on Wednesday.

He called on countries to work together to ensure that the cryptocurrency does not fall into the wrong hands. "Take cryptocurrency or Bitcoin for example. It is important that all democratic nations work together on this and ensure that it does not fall into wrong hands, which can corrupt our youth," Modi said.

Additionally, the Prime Minister called on Australia and India's partners in the Indo-Pacific region "and beyond" to jointly invest in future technologies to "deepen intelligence and operational cooperation and develop common standards for data management and cross-border data flows."

Modi explained that the digital age is changing everything. Not only has it redefined politics, economics and society, but it has also raised new questions about sovereignty, governance, ethics, rights and security.

The Prime Minister's statement on cryptocurrency and Bitcoin came after he was reportedly in the chair comprehensive meeting on this issue after consultation with the Central Bank, Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Home Affairs.

This week, India's Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance also held one Meet with representatives of the crypto industry. It was India's first parliamentary discussion on the broad topic of crypto finance involving the industry.

Meanwhile, Modi's government is working on a regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies. Recent reports suggest that the government is planning to regulate crypto as an asset so that Indians can hold it as investments. However, the use of crypto for payments and transactions is likely to be banned.

India's central bank continued to make "serious and significant" comments Issue on the subject of cryptocurrency. RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said the central bank had already conveyed its concerns to the government.

Additionally, Business Standard reported on Wednesday that the government is considering classifying cryptocurrency exchanges as e-commerce platforms and imposing a 1% Goods and Services Tax (GST).

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