Indian Lawmaker Says 'Cryptocurrency Is Inevitable'

Indian Parliament member Dr. Subramanian Swamy has shared his view on cryptocurrency. Advocating for India to make the transition to crypto, he reportedly said, “cryptocurrency is inevitable.” The lawmaker will chair a conference at the UN India’s headquarters next week where issues surrounding cryptocurrency in the country will be discussed.

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‘Cryptocurrency Is Inevitable’

Indian Member of Parliament (MP) Dr. Subramanian Swamy has reportedly spoken about cryptocurrency following the statements made last week on digital currency by the governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP was nominated to Rajya Sabha, the upper house of India’s parliament, by the President of India. According to Sarkaritel news portal, Dr. Swamy supports cryptocurrency adoption. He was quoted on Wednesday as saying:

Cryptocurrency is inevitable.

Last week, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das revealed that the central bank had examined internally the prospect of issuing an RBI-backed digital rupee. “I think it is an area where the Reserve Bank will certainly look at seriously at an appropriate time,” he confirmed. The RBI, however, has not warmed up to cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin. Its banking restriction, enforced on the Indian cryptocurrency industry in July last year, is still in effect. The supreme court is expected to resume hearing the arguments against this ban in January.

Crypto Conference at UN India

Dr. Swamy will chair a closed-door conference at UN India’s headquarters in New Delhi on Dec. 18. The event is co-organized by United Nations Technology Innovation Lab – UNTIL India and BEGIN India Think Tank. The aim of the conference is to deliberate on methods, technology and delivery mechanisms of digital currency that make nations, particularly law enforcement, “vulnerable in monitoring/ controlling/ stopping the invisible vaporization of fiat currency towards terror financing,” the UN’s website described.

“The scheduled conference on cryptocurrency organized by Mr. Deepak is most timely,” Dr. Swamy was quoted by the news outlet as saying. “China is today even ahead of U.S. in its decision to begin a trial run in two cities for digital transactions.” Deepak Kapoor is the founder of BEGIN India Think Tank. The MP elaborated:

I advocate that India as an established super power in software should accept to make the transition to cryptocurrency.

The conference will be attended by leaders from key Indian investigative agencies, law enforcement agencies, as well as state and central government IT departments. BEGIN India Think Tank focuses on addressing issues surrounding blockchain technology and cryptocurrency. The organization helps investigative agencies, law enforcement agencies, and banking institutions understand cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. Kapoor affirmed:

We are committed to addressing a range of issues around cryptocurrency, globally, starting in India.

“From its damaging negative aspects that contribute to undermining [the] dominance of central banks in a nation’s economy to the overwhelmingly positive aspects of how policy should be formulated around the most secure technology till date which was essentially built to decimate the control of governments and central banks,” he continued. “We must work to retain the safeguards.”

Among topics that will be discussed at the conference is how to fight crypto-related crimes. “For this purpose, such conferences are necessary in a democracy that India is, and move to digital, orderly and tamper-proof transaction just as in the past, the world had moved from barter to precious metals to paper currency for transaction,” Dr. Swamy detailed.

“The banking system is unable to track any financial transactions and law enforcement agencies are helplessly unable to deal with high-end cryptocurrency technology,” Kapoor remarked. “Investigators have not yet even understood how to ascertain/ calculate the total value of siphoned off funds, leave alone locating and seizing it,” he further asserted.

Despite various efforts by the Indian government and law enforcement agencies, BEGIN India’s founder claims that “not a single case of cryptocurrency has yet been successfully solved, nor a fraction of the money recovered so far.” He noted that “Alarmingly, with each passing day, larger amounts keep getting converted to cryptocurrency and vanishing into the thin-air invisible economy, thus weakening India’s economy and hurting its GDP.” Meanwhile, the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy has introduced a few courses teaching high ranking police officers about cryptocurrency.

What do you think of Dr. Swamy’s view on cryptocurrency? Let us know in the comments section below.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock and Moneycontrol.

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