India’s Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance has recommended introducing an interim regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies and virtual digital assets (VDAs) through recognized self-regulatory organizations (SROs) under a designated regulator, amid absence of comprehensive regulations.
The committee further pushed for specific definitions for VDAs under securities and derivatives and other categories as not all crypto assets qualify under particular segments, the panel noted in the 36th report for the proposed Securities Markets Code, 2025, presented on July 23.
This comes following several rounds of consultations and deliberations over the past few months with various crypto industry stakeholders such as exchanges, income tax department and even the Reserve Bank of India.
The panel took cues from crypto regulations laid by various countries including UK, Singapore, US, European Union, suggesting the need for “significant international and domestic coordination” required to regulate and monitor crypto.
“The position of the Central Government regarding crypto-assets, including Virtual Digital Assets, is that such assets are presently unregulated in India, except for the limited purposes of taxation, prevention of money laundering and reporting. Any regulatory framework for such assets would require significant international and domestic coordination.”
“Accordingly, the inclusion of Virtual Digital Assets under the Securities Markets Code would require broader policy consideration by the Government and wider consultation among regulators and Departments. In view thereof, it may not be appropriate to include such assets within the Securities Markets Code at this stage,” the report said.
The committee also asked the Ministry to clarify whether crypto investment products and exchanges offering tokenized securities would be covered under the proposed legislation, and whether an enabling clause was needed to ensure regulatory oversight.
You need to login in order to Like
Leave a comment