All democratic nations must work together on cryptocurrency to ensure it 'does not end up in the wrong hands and spoil our youth,’ Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday.
This is PM Modi's first public comment on the subject and it came days after he held discussions with officials from various ministries and RBI on the issue of cryptocurrency.
Speaking at the Sydney Dialogue, a forum on emerging, critical and cyber technologies, PM Modi also said that ‘we are in a time of change’ that happens once in an era, where technology and data are becoming new weapons.
Amid concerns over the rising investment in cryptocurrency in India, the government has sped up consultations on the matter recently.
According to a report in The Economic Times, the government is close to finalising the regulations for cryptocurrency trading and is likely to introduce the cryptocurrency bill in the Parliament during the Winter session.
The bill is likely to propose legalisation of cryptocurrency trading in India but use of these currencies for payments and transactions is likely to be prohibited.
As per the report, the government may ask SEBI to regulate trade in virtual currencies.
