India’s push to regulate cryptocurrencies gets support from IMF, US at G20

A push by Group of 20 (G20) chair India to regulate cryptocurrencies on Saturday drew support from both the International Monetary Fund and the United States as the bloc’s finance chiefs held two days of talks.

India has said that it wants a collective global effort to deal with the problems arising out of cryptocurrency like bitcoin, and the finance ministry said it had organized a seminar for G-20 Member states will discuss how to develop a common framework.

Speaking to Reuters on the sidelines of the G20 meeting in Bengaluru, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said it was “critical” to establish a strong regulatory framework, but added that the United States did not suggest any outright sanctions. Was.

“We have not suggested an outright ban on crypto activities, but it is important to create a strong regulatory framework,” Yellen said. “We are working with other governments.”

Earlier, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva told reporters after co-chairing a meeting with Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman that banning crypto should be an option.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has debated drafting a law to regulate or ban cryptocurrencies for several years, but has not made a final decision. The Reserve Bank of India has said that cryptocurrencies should be banned as they are similar to Ponzi schemes.

On Thursday, the IMF laid out a nine-point action plan on how countries should treat crypto assets, with point number one pleading not to grant legal tender status to cryptocurrencies.

Such efforts have become a priority for authorities, the fund said, following the collapse of several crypto exchanges and assets over the past few years, adding that doing nothing now was “unsustainable”.

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