India's Crypto Review Completes Year-Long Journey, Government Response Imminent

India's government will soon respond to cryptocurrency policy after a year-long review by Parliament's Standing Committee on Finance. The committee has been holding closed-door consultations with various stakeholders, including the Reserve Bank of India and the Central Board of Direct Taxes.

The committee chairman, Bharthari Mahtab, said that while the government has not yet settled on a unified position, it neither accepts virtual digital assets nor wants to regulate them. This regulatory vacuum is creating room for misuse, according to Mahtab, who framed the central dilemma as 'not regulating it is also leaving greater scope for different types of indulgences.'

Mahtab also confirmed that concerns around UPI (India's unified payments interface) were raised informally during discussions, but the topic was not formally on Monday's agenda. The matter is expected to be taken up by a newly constituted committee in October.