Former Finance Minister Proposes an Idea To Regulate Crypto as Commodity In India
Former Finance Minister Subhash Chandra Garg, a former member of the Indian Parliament, has told the Indian crypto community that crypto investments should be regulated as commodities. But he stands by his previous position that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies should be banned, and not just for illegal activity.
In a webinar on cryptocurrency regulation in India entitled “Cryptocurrencies in India: What the future holds,” former Finance Minister Subhash Chandra Garg, a senior member of the Indian National Congress (INC), shared his views on cryptocurrency regulation in that country.
Minister Subhash Chandra Garg was the keynote speaker and appeared in a webinar and panel discussion with former US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. He cited examples of gold, silver, and diamonds as examples of bitcoin as a currency as an alternative to gold and silver. He added: ‘If someone wants to value code in the form of crypto assets and wants to invest in a crypto asset, they can do so, but only in terms of the value of that code.
Also, when a cryptocurrency is traded, it must be a commodity, not a cryptocurrency, because it is a currency, not an asset.
Therefore, I would suggest that the government regulate them very well, not only for the sake of privacy but also for their safety.
Garg’s keynote speech followed a series of panelists who tried to convince the former finance minister that cryptocurrencies should not be banned. One of the panelists was the former chief executive of India’s largest bank, the State Bank of China.
However, he explained to Garg that cryptocurrencies are not trying to compete with INR, but are a new form of currency with different rules. Asked about the regulation of raw materials, he said there was no differentiation in the bill, suggesting there could be a misunderstanding about the law.
As secretary in the Ministry of Economy, Garg chaired the inter-ministerial committee that drafted the notorious bill banning Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
Garg, the former undersecretary of state at the Ministry of Economic and undersecretary of the Treasury, resigned on 31 March 2017 after a series of controversies.
Early last year, he put forward a proposal to create an official cryptocurrency for the state. India’s cryptocurrency industry has increased in recent years after the Supreme Court lifted the ban on the use of bitcoin and other digital currencies in the country.
In recent months, local trading platforms have boomed, with considerable increases in trading volume and filings, according to the Indian Express. In the past week, the cryptocurrency trading bank has been the subject of several high-profile scandals, including the recent hack of the Mt Gox bitcoin exchange.
