MoS Chandrasekhar on Crypto meltdown: Indian investors saved by govt's prudent guardrails of taxation, exchange control

Cryptocurrency markets globally have been battered with billions of dollars being wiped out, however, India managed to stay relatively unscathed because of the cautious approach of the government and the RBI.Reacting to the recent crypto meltdown and India’s safe escape by repeated warnings against trading in them, Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar took to his Twitter handle and praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his ‘foresight’ and saving many Indian investors from going bankrupt.He said, “Indian investors who got out of crypto due to our govts prudent guardrails of taxation n exchange control shd thank PM @narendramodi ji for his foresight n thus being saved from this crypto meltdown n losses #Crypto #DigitalIndia.”The RBI has been opposing the cryptocurrencies, while the government was initially toying with the idea of regulating such instruments by bringing a law. However, the government concluded by noting that global consensus is required in respect of virtual currencies as these are borderless and involves very high risks.Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has reiterated the stance of the RBI to ban cryptocurrencies but said that no legislation is possible without significant international collaboration. Sitharaman in a written reply to Parliament recently said RBI is of the view that cryptocurrencies should be prohibited.Cryptocurrencies are by definition borderless and require international collaboration to prevent regulatory arbitrage, she had said."Therefore any legislation for regulation or for banning can be effective only after significant international collaboration on evaluation of the risks and benefits and evolution of common taxonomy and standards," she had said.Indian investors have been largely spared from the crypto meltdown that has taken the total market value of cryptocurrencies below USD 1 trillion in just one year from USD 3 trillion in 2021, sent Bahamas-based crypto exchange FTX into bankruptcy after numerous customer withdrawals.The collapse of FTX empire that lost entire USD 16 billion fortune of co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried, shook confidence in the troubled industry that was struggling to gain credibility. The prices of the original cryptocurrencies- Bitcoin and Ether, have also plummeted.(With inputs: PTI)Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.