India Delays Crypto Regulation Amid Wider Policy Consultations
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance in India has recommended that any move to regulate cryptocurrencies and virtual digital assets under the proposed Securities Markets Code should be preceded by wider policy deliberations and coordination among regulators and government departments.
The committee examined the Securities Markets Code, 2025, which is designed as a technology-neutral framework allowing tokenized versions of existing securities such as shares, bonds, and units of investment schemes to remain within the ambit of securities regulation.
The panel observed that cryptocurrencies that do not possess the characteristics of securities or derivatives may remain outside the proposed law. The Ministry of Finance stated that virtual digital assets, including cryptocurrencies, are currently unregulated in India except for taxation, anti-money laundering, and reporting requirements.
The government believes that framing a comprehensive regime for crypto-assets would require both domestic and international coordination. The report noted that jurisdictions such as the United States, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the European Union generally adopt technology-neutral definitions, regulating crypto-assets that exhibit characteristics of securities under existing securities laws while creating separate frameworks for other digital assets.