Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has recommended to the government that it should frame regulations for cryptocurrencies.

The Indian government wants an international collaboration if such a ban has to be put into effect, said Sitharaman.

Addressing queries related to cryptocurrency in the Lok Sabha today, the Finance Minister said that RBI has recommended for framing of legislation on this sector. RBI is of the view that cryptocurrencies should be prohibited. She went on to add that cryptocurrencies are by definition borderless and require international collaboration to prevent regulatory arbitrage. “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 said.

She added that RBI, with its circular dated May 31, 2021 has also advised its regulated entities to continue to carry out customer due diligence processes for transactions in VCs, in line with regulations governing standards for Know Your Customer (KYC), Anti-Money Laundering (AML), Combating of Financing of Terrorism (CFT), obligations under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, etc. in addition to ensuring compliance with relevant provisions under Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) for overseas remittances.

The central bank has time and again pointed out problem with digital assets. Terming cryptocurrencies a “clear danger", RBI governor Shaktikanta Das in RBI's annual report said that anything that derives value based on make-believe, “without any underlying", is just speculation under a sophisticated name.

Meanwhile, the government announced tax on gains from virtual assets. The 30% tax rate on virtual currency assets has come into effect from April 1 and the latest addition was 1% TDS from July 1 this year. This has impacted trading volumes on cryptocurrency exchanges in India.