India said on Thursday that under its ongoing G20 presidency, it will prioritize the development of a framework for global regulation of unbacked crypto assets, stablecoins and decentralized finance and will explore the "possibility of [their] prohibition" in a potentially large setback for the nascent industry.
India began its year-long presidency of the Group 20 early this month. The group, which comprises 19 nations across continents and the EU, represents 85% of the world's GDP. It also invites non-member countries including Singapore and Spain and international organizations such as World Bank and the IMF.
The Reserve Bank of India, the Indian central bank, said in a report today that crypto assets are highly volatile and exhibit high correlations with equities in ways that dispute the industry's narrative and claims around the virtual digital assets being an alternative source of value due to their supposed inflation-hedging benefits.
The Indian central bank warned that policymakers across the globe are concerned that the crypto sector may become more interconnected with mainstream finance and "divert financing away from traditional finance with broader effect on the real economy."
The Indian central bank is among one of the most vocal critics of the crypto industry. RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das warned last week that private cryptocurrencies will cause the next financial crisis unless its usage is prohibited.
“Change in value in any so-called product is the function of the market. But unlike any other asset or product, our main concern with crypto is that it doesn’t have any underlying whatsoever. I think crypto or private cryptocurrency is a fashionable way of describing what is otherwise a 100% speculative activity,” he said in a conference.
Das said crypto owes its origin to the idea that it bypasses or breaks the existing financial system. “They don’t believe in the central bank, they don’t believe in a regulated financial world. I’m yet to hear a good argument about what public purpose it serves,” he said, adding that he holds the view that crypto should be prohibited.
India is among the nations that has taken a stringent approach with cryptocurrencies. Earlier this year, it began taxing virtual currencies, levying a 30% tax on the gains and a 1% deduction on each crypto transaction.
The nation’s move, alongside the market downturn, has severely depleted the transactions that local exchanges CoinSwitch Kuber, backed by Sequoia India and Andreessen Horowitz, and CoinDCX, backed by Pantera, process in the nation.
Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, founder and chief executive of the world’s largest crypto exchange Binance, told TechCrunch in a recent interview that the firm doesn’t see India as a “very crypto-friendly environment.” He said the firm is attempting to relay its concerns to the local authority about the local taxation, but asserted that tax policies typically take a long time to change.
“Binance goes to countries where regulations are pro-crypto and pro-business. We don’t go to countries where we won’t have a sustainable business — or any business, regardless of whether or not we go,” he said.
Coinbase, which has backed both CoinDCX and CoinSwitch Kuber, launched its crypto platform in the country earlier this year but quickly rolled back the service amid a regulatory scare. Coinbase co-founder and chief executive Brian Armstrong said in May that the firm disabled Coinbase’s support for local payments infra UPI “because of some informal pressure from the [central bank] Reserve Bank of India.”
With more than 600 million connected users, India is the second largest internet market globally. The nation, home to one of the world's largest startup ecosystems, has attracted over $75 billion in investment from the likes of Google, Meta, Amazon, Sequoia, Lightspeed and Tiger Global in the past decade.
Mr Modi has said that his mother's life and sacrifices shaped his mind and personality.
The Knicks played — and lost — like they had a debilitating Luka Doncic hangover. Two days after their epic collapse in Dallas — when they allowed a 60-point triple-double to Doncic — the Knicks were pummeled Thursday night by the rebuilding Spurs, 122-115, for a fifth consecutive loss. The Mavericks’ defeat was deflating. The Spurs’ defeat was just depressing. Tom Thibodeau had an excuse of …
The Capitals lost to the Senators in uncharacteristic fashion Thursday, snapping their five-game winning streak.
Canton/Massillon-area high school basketball, bowling, swimming, wrestling, gymnastics results from the Week of Dec. 27-31.
Coming off its football success, Aliquippa players getting back into swing of things on basketball court.
The crash is under investigation.
Janis Moser (Arizona Coyotes) with a Goal vs. Toronto Maple Leafs, 12/29/2022
Scores and schedule for the 2002 Josh Palmer Fund Clarion Classic basketball tournament in Elmira.
Check here for the 2022-23 high school girls basketball results from STAC, IAC and MAC schools in Section 4.
The Toronto Raptors waived second-year forward Justin Champagnie on Thursday after a tough loss to the Memphis Grizzlies at Scotiabank Arena.
The 49ers were already favored over the Raiders — then Las Vegas made a QB change.
Over the past several days, the airline cut two-thirds of its flights as it looked to get its crews back in place after they blamed the winter storm as it blanketed many cities they fly to.
In his first season as Oklahoma's head coach, Brent Venables and the Sooners finish with a 6-7 record after their 35-32 loss to Florida State.
The Phoenix Suns confirmed that Devin Booker will be out for the next four weeks due to an…
Alperen Sengun (Houston Rockets) with a dunk vs the Dallas Mavericks, 12/29/2022
Usman Garuba (Houston Rockets) with a last basket of the period vs the Dallas Mavericks, 12/29/2022
Kenyon Martin Jr. (Houston Rockets) with a dunk vs the Dallas Mavericks, 12/29/2022
Jabari Smith Jr. (Houston Rockets) with a 2-pointer vs the Dallas Mavericks, 12/29/2022
Eric Gordon (Houston Rockets) with an assist vs the Dallas Mavericks, 12/29/2022
Jalen Green (Houston Rockets) with an and one vs the Dallas Mavericks, 12/29/2022
Author
Administraroot
