Economic Survey flags concerns on Crypto, pushes for global regulation- QHN

Here’s a look at how industry players and experts reacted to the Eco Survey’s inclusion of crypto currencies.

Vikram Babbar, Lead, Financial Services, EY:

“Addressing risks and challenges around the rising popularity of cryptocurrencies will be imperative given the global incidents around fraud and financial crime are impacting the financial sector. Multiple Governments are considering regulations and frameworks to minimise the vulnerabilities in the crypto ecosystem. Introduction of Regulatory frameworks may lead to crypto co-exist with other digital currencies.”

Edul Patel CEO and Co-Founder of Mudrex:

“Cryptocurrency is a rapidly growing asset worldwide.

The FTX crash prompted governments globally to draft regulations to prevent such events and protect people’s money. Effective regulation is crucial for fostering innovation and combating money laundering and fraud. As cryptocurrencies are global, India cannot regulate them alone, and calling for global standards that can be adapted to future international standards is a progressive step. With India holding the presidency of the G-20 summit this year, the topic of cryptocurrency is also being discussed among the member countries. This provides India with the opportunity to set the tone for global regulation of cryptocurrencies.”

Kiran Vivekananda, Chief Public Policy Officer, CoinDCX:

“It is comforting to see the Economic survey of India highlighting the dire need for a common global approach towards crypto regulations. The Economic Survey also points out some challenges associated with space making it imperative for the policymakers and industry experts to come together to develop a framework for this complex, disruptive, dynamic, yet critical space. Given its borderless nature, global cooperation is also key. India’s G20 Presidency, in my view, is an opportune time to take this conversation forward. As a leading player in the Indian Web3 ecosystem, CoinDCX is committed to addressing all of these concerns and spreading awareness about the nuances of this space.”

Punit Agarwal, Founder, KoinX:

“India has always been pushing for global regulations on crypto assets both at OECD and G20. The Economic survey has lighted the urgent need of regulating this Industry while also ensuring it is flexible to meet the dynamic needs of the Industry.”

Rohit Arora, CEO and Co-founder, Biz2credit and Biz2X:

“The Economic Survey is correct in stating that there is a need have global regulatory standards for crypto currencies. While this is easier said than done as right now the FTX meltdown in the United States has created a regulatory backlash which will slow the speed of formulation of these standards. At this point in time, major global economies agree with their experience that the implementation will take lot of time. In my opinion, there should be a regulator like OECD which was formed for global tax structures.”

Aarti Raote, Partner, Deloitte India

The Economic survey has highlighted the Government’s concern on regulation of the ‘Crypto-ecosystem’ and rightly so given the collapse of the crypto exchange and the weaknesses in the system that are exposed from time to time. In light of similar apprehensions raised by other countries as well, the OECD has framed the Crypto- Asset Reporting Framework (CARF) that will provide more visibility on intermediaries, e-wallet service providers and exchanges. It is expected that that the Government may strengthen the reporting and regulating norms of this volatile instruments inline with the suggestions provided by the OECD as well as the guardrails put in place by other countries.