Indian Finance Minister Expresses Crypto Money Laundering Concerns
Summary
She spoke at a forum hosted by the International Monetary Fund. Indian Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman expressed that the concern of the Indian Government regarding cryptocurrencies was an associated risk of money laundering and terror financing. The meeting was on the sidelines of the IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings.
IMF Chief Kristalina Georgieva was also present at the forum of expressed her views on digital currencies.
Statements
Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman spoke with the IMF team on Monday, 18 April 2022. During the panel discussion on the topic of “Money at a Crossroad“, she highlighted India’s performance in the digital world. She also expressed concerns about how cryptocurrencies still support money laundering.
She proceeded to comment on the digital currencies and their possible misuse for money laundering. She said that
I think the biggest risk for all countries across the board will be the money laundering aspect and the aspect of currency being used for financing terror.
According to her only way of dealing with such situations was to regulate them. She added that regulations should not be behind the curve and should be technologically adept to counter any misuse of emerging technology. Below is a video of the same conversations.
Our Analysis
We understand the concerns of various governments regarding cryptocurrencies being misused for immoral and illegal purposes. But, these illegal activities are also in the fiat currency domain. Much of the expressed concerns are being actively solved by various entities. With time we hope that every concern is addressed.
But overregulation would also serve permanent damage to an emerging ecosystem. An example of such overregulation is the 30% tax on income from “Virtual Digital Assets“. Such over regulations can serve to kill innovation which India desperately needs. Here’s how the industry responded to the same.