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The Finance Minister of India, Nirmala Sitharaman, recently released a statement that India may not be able to follow in the footsteps of El Salvador. However, she said that a futuristic thing can’t be shut out as the country is considering crypto regulation including a possible blanket ban.
Nirmala Sitharaman Says India Can’t Follow El Salvador Lead
The Finance Minister of India, Nirmala Sitharaman, said that the country is not yet ready to follow the lead of El Salvador. El Salvador is the first country to accept Bitcoin as a legal tender and this happened earlier this month.
As an example for supporting that India is not ready for Bitcoin yet, Sitharaman addressed the ongoing protest in El Salvador, against the adoption of Bitcoin as a currency, and said that it shows that people care what currency is being adopted in a country. She said:
“You’d think common people don’t care about digital currency, but the public took to the streets against the move. It’s not a question of literacy or understanding — it’s also a question of to what extent this is a transparent currency; is it going to be a currency available for everyone?”
It should be noted that India has moved really slowly in the crypto space and the country is yet to take a clear decision on the legal status of cryptocurrencies.
Crypto Bill Awaiting Nod from the Union Cabinet
Sitharaman mentioned that discussions are going on with the Reserve Bank of India and various stakeholders. She said:
“Now we have to formulate this [different views] in the form of a cabinet note on the balance we can strike.’
In addition to this, it should be noted that the draft crypto bill is awaiting a nod at present from the union cabinet before it can be tabled in parliament.
Moreover, last month, Shaktikanta Das, the Governor of RBI, said that India might be able to launch its first CBDC trial project by the end of December.