In Brief:
- At the Sydney Dialogue, Indian PM, Narendra Modi called upon the democratic nations to “work together” on cryptocurrency.
- However, he also cautioned about “cryptos ending up in the wrong hands”.
In what seems like a good day for crypto fanatics, the Indian Prime Minister was also seen increasingly vocal about the future of cryptocurrency in his Sydney Dialogue.
In his keynote address at the Sydney Dialogue, Indian PM, Narendra Modi called upon the democratic nations to “work together” on cryptocurrency. However, he also cautioned about “cryptos ending up in the wrong hands”.
In his trademark style, he urged democratic nations to “develop technical and governance standards and norms” consistent with the democratic values and, to create standards, norms for data governance and for cross-border flow that protect and secure data; it should also recognize national rights and at the same time, promote trade, investment, and the larger public good.
Citing Cryptocurrency and Bitcoin, PM Modi further added, “Take cryptocurrency or bitcoin for example; it is important that all democratic nations work together and ensure it does not end up in wrong hands, which can spoil our youth ”
He emphasized on democracies investing together in the “research and development of future technology”.
“We are at a historic moment of choice. Whether all the wonderful powers of technology of our age will be instruments of cooperation or conflict, coercion or choice, domination or development, oppression or opportunity,” Modi said.
On Monday, in a high-end meeting, PM Modi spoke about cryptocurrencies and raised concerns like money laundering and terror financing. In spite of reservations like these, India is still planning to certainly consider this fast-growing sector of the crypto industry.
Interestingly, Modi’s views on crypto today can be seen in alignment with the current crypto developments in India. This is evident with India’s plans to reclassify crypto exchanges as e-commerce platforms which consequently will decrease the current GST of 18% to 1% on cryptos. Moreover, India with other countries will help Peru to create its central bank digital currency.
The speculation about the future of crypto would soon dissipate with the forthcoming Bitcoin Bill that is expected to be presented before the Indian legislature during the next session. This much-awaited bill will bring in some clarity and may even reinstate the “democratization of crypto”
