Govt has no plans for boosting crypto sector in India: MoS Finance

New Delhi: The union government has no plans for boosting the cryptocurrency sector in the country, the ministry of finance told Parliament on Monday.

The comments come in the wake of rapid developments in the cryptocurrency space in India with the government all set to introduce a Bill in the ongoing parliament session to regulate cryptocurrencies.

Further, in reply to a question on the data available for active cryptocurrency exchange companies working in India for both the local developers and the international developers, the government said it does not collect any data on the cryptocurrency sector.

"A Bill on cryptocurrency and regulation of official digital currency has been included for introduction in the Lok Sabha and is expected to be taken up during the current Session," the reply stated.

Earlier, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said global action is needed to regulate evolving technologies including the cryptocurrencies. In a separate exclusive interaction at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit 2021, the finance minister said government will bring a "well consulted" cryptocurrecny Bill.

'The Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021', seeks to "create a facilitative framework for creation of the official digital currency to be issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The Bill also seeks to prohibit all private cryptocurrencies in India, however, it allows for certain exceptions to promote the underlying technology of cryptocurrency and its uses".

Currently, there is no regulation or any ban on the use of cryptocurrencies in the country. The RBI has repeatedly reiterated its strong views against cryptocurrencies saying they pose serious threats to the macroeconomic and financial stability of the country and also doubted the number of investors trading on them as well as their claimed market value.

RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das has also reiterated his views against allowing cryptocurrencies saying they are a serious threat to any financial system since they are unregulated by central banks.