Indian Crypto Bill: Exchange CEO Discusses What to Expect

There are reports that the Indian government may impose restrictions on self-custodial cryptocurrency wallets and only allow Indian crypto exchanges. The CEO of a major cryptocurrency exchange in India has shared his thoughts on the possible restrictions. The Indian government has listed a cryptocurrency bill to be taken up in the current session of parliament.

Possible Restrictions in Indian Crypto Regulation

A cryptocurrency bill is waiting to be heard in the current session of parliament in India. The country’s finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, has confirmed that the bill needed to be reworked from its original version that seeks to ban cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin in ether. However, she still has not revealed what’s actually in the bill, leading to much speculation.

The CEO of local cryptocurrency exchange Wazirx discussed some of the speculations in a series of tweets Friday.

“There have been unconfirmed reports” that “‘Self custodial wallets’ may not be allowed as part of India’s crypto bill,” Wazirx CEO Nischal Shetty detailed. There have also been reports that “Only Indian exchanges can be used,” the CEO added, elaborating:

I don’t believe you can prohibit the use of software. Self custodial wallets are just software. Without self custodial wallets, you cannot interact with many of the decentralized services.

He stressed that “As an industry, we would never recommend this.”

The CEO continued: “If we want regulation then services that are regulated need to be in India. These services need to follow the rules & regulations of our country.” He noted, “Every nation that’s regulating crypto is following a similar approach,” emphasizing that “All exchanges can register [their] company in India as well.”

Shetty then shared his opinion on whether he expects crypto regulations to be applied to only Indian exchanges, stating:

Government will expect centralised crypto service providers to follow the law of India. It’s the least to expect from any company that services Indians.

He further opined: “We strongly support competition. If a product or service is not up to the mark then competition will boot it out. But competition should be fair. When regulations come in, every exchange will have to follow it & compete. Let’s build the best crypto ecosystem in India.”

The Wazirx executive concluded:

Positive regulation will help the Indian crypto ecosystem grow rapidly. We’re seeing good progress with crypto regulations.

The Indian government has listed a cryptocurrency bill to be taken up in the winter session of parliament. This week, the country’s finance minister answered some questions about cryptocurrency legislation that’s been proposed by the government. Reports then emerged that a cabinet note reportedly suggests that the government is not planning to ban crypto but to regulate crypto assets instead.