Crypto During The G20 Presidency India Wants Standard Operating Procedures

Sitharaman has previously called for international cooperation to decide on the future of cryptocurrencies and has been wary of the widespread use of crypto due to threats to financial stability.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, before completing a 6-day visit to Washington D.C.to attend the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) annual meetings said to Indian journalists that developing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for crypto is one of India’s plans during its G20 presidency next year.

G20 intergovernmental forum consisting of 19 countries and the EU. It works for global economic issues such as sustainable development, international financial stability, and climate change mitigation. Together, the G20 members represent more than 75% of international trade, 80% of the world’s GDP, and 60% of the world’s population.

From 1 December 2022 to 30 November 2023, India will assume the presidency of the Group of 20 (G20) and is expected to host more than 200 G20 meetings across the country. In 2023, the G20 Leaders’ Summit will be held in New Delhi on September 9 and 10.

Netherlands, Mauritius, Bangladesh, Singapore, Oman, Egypt, Nigeria, and UAE will be the guest countries at the event.

Sitharaman said, “During our engagements, we heard that already institutions which are associated with the G20 or the World Bank or any other, are doing their own assessment and studies of matters related to cryptocurrencies or crypto assets.”

The minister said that the objective is to gather information, study and discuss and place it before the G20 members to arrive at a global, technology-driven regulatory framework for digital currency.

She strongly advocates global regulation of cryptocurrencies to address money laundering risks and terrorist financing.

The FM had said that India did not recognize crypto assets and that crypto in India was not legal at a panel discussion with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) managing director Kristalina Georgieva in April in the US.

“The central bank is yet to come up with a digital currency. It will happen sometime in 2022-23, but in the meantime, we are not sure about the veracity of the data. Regulation can’t be done by a single country…to do it across the borders, tech does not have a solution acceptable to various countries,” she said.

In a meeting with the President of the World Bank Group, David Malpass, in Washington, DC, they discussed a number of topics, including improving the capital adequacy framework of (Multilateral Development Banks) MDBs, India’s leadership in the G20, and addressing debt risks.