India Close to Finishing Work on Cryptocurrency Rule Proposals

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8 August 2017

India’s government has reportedly completed work on a proposal that outlines possible steps for regulating cryptocurrencies.

According to local media source Business Line, the report, submitted by an intergovernmental body put together in April, has been delivered to the Indian Ministry of Finance.

It’s contents are currently unknown, though media reports in recent weeks suggest that at least some of the panel’s participants want to adopt a more restrictive stance. Other sources have indicated that India may ultimately move to establish some kind of tax policy for cryptocurrencies.

As previously reported by CoinDesk, the committee was established in order to examine the current framework in for cryptocurrencies in the country. Startups in India that work with bitcoin or blockchain have called for an inclusive stance from the government, particularly in light of confusion among consumers about the tech’s exact legal status.

It’s not clear when the Indian Ministry of Finance will publish the report or in what form that release will take.

Meanwhile, efforts to examine the regulatory environment for the tech continue to expand.

CoinDesk reported earlier this week that the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has unveiled a broad advisory committee that will research blockchain and other technologies. The goal, according to SEBI, is to see whether the tech could be applied to its own regulatory processes.

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