India’s Crypto Discussion Paper on Hold Due to Other Priorities

India has yet to publish a discussion paper outlining its policy stance on cryptocurrencies because officials are concentrating on other priorities, according to two people familiar with the decision.

The document was initially expected by September following consultations with stakeholders including the central bank and the markets regulator. The intention to publish remains, but there is no timeline, said the people, who requested anonymity because the delay hasn’t been announced publicly.

India, the world’s fifth-largest economy, does not have comprehensive crypto legislation and the discussion paper was expected to be a step in that direction. The nation says crypto is unregulated, though it has imposed stiff taxes on the sector and introduced a requirement for crypto entities to be registered with the country’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU-IND) to adhere to anti-money laundering (AML) and terrorism financing standards set by global bodies such as the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

Officials within India’s policy environment faced more pressing demands, including the 2024 annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank at the end of this month. They have also had to deal with a number of multilateral and bilateral meetings with other nations as two regional wars – between Russia and Ukraine and between Israel and its enemies in the Middle East – persist.

Additionally, the Finance Ministry has had to concentrate on an election year with two budgets, an interim one in February before the July vote and a full budget afterward, together with resulting consultations across the country.

Despite a $234 million hack of Indian cryptocurrency exchange WazirX, the authorities do not consider crypto legislation a burning issue like it was two years ago, the people suggested.

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