Indian billionaire and Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani has opposed the ban on cryptocurrencies in India, believing they should be seen as a new asset class.
Recently, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has been actively discussing the possibility of another ban on digital assets in the country. Last week, there was information from an Indian official that the government is preparing a bill to criminalize the circulation, storage, mining and transfer of crypto assets.
Nandan Nilekani, founder of banking and financial software company Infosys, has spoken out against such harsh measures. Nilekani believes that it is not worth limiting the access of Indian citizens to the new developing asset class. Even if cryptocurrencies cannot work as fast as the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) instant payment system developed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), there is a huge capital pouring into crypto assets, and this is their advantage.
“We need to allow people to have cryptocurrencies. The Indian government should help small and medium businesses in the country access capital using bitcoin, ”Nilekani said.
The Indian government’s attitude towards cryptocurrencies is controversial. Despite the impending ban on digital assets, Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said this month that the plan is to “leave a regulatory window” to allow citizens and organizations to experiment with Bitcoin. At the same time, local authorities have a positive attitude towards blockchain technology.
Last year, the State Institute for Intelligent Governance (NISG) unveiled a strategy to create a digital Indian rupee on a managed blockchain.
RBI is considering introducing the digital rupee to accelerate the transition from paper money to digital systems.
Recently, local media reported that before the ban on digital assets was introduced, the Indian government plans to introduce double taxation of cryptocurrencies.
