India's Parliamentary Finance Body 'Chides' Crypto Industry in Meeting: Sources

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India's parliamentary finance committee met with representatives of the crypto industry in Bengaluru on Wednesday, said three people familiar with the matter.

This was the second meeting between the two parties, but the first outside the national capital and therefore considered "informal and private" in nature. A number of representatives from other finance sectors also met with the committee.

"They [the crypto industry] haven't done anything since the last time we raised concerns," said a source present at the meeting. The committee was reportedly displeased with the industry's focus on "advocacy" rather than a plan to deal with risks like terrorism financing.

"It's the same old thing," said the source. "That's what we chided the industry for. We are sick and tired of hearing advocacy, advocacy. Because they have to address the challenges that the government is putting forth, right? Plans, mitigation measures or some kind of thing. I think that would go a long way."

During the freewheeling discussion, the committee also asked industry representatives to present a model for regulation, names of crypto-related companies solving native Indian problems and concrete plans to mitigate cross border terrorism and money laundering.

The committee also asked why crypto and blockchain need to be dealt with together, with industry representatives needing to explain how tokenization takes place on blockchains.

As for industry concerns about new tax rules in India, the committee reminded them that this meeting was to focus on overall regulatory policy. Questions regarding taxes, they said, should be brought to the attention of the country's finance minister.

It's been a busy month in crypto for India. There's been the initial imposition of a new crypto tax, the rough local launch of crypto exchange Coinbase, a plunge in trading volumes, payment processors cutting off exchanges and the ramping up in fear of the next phase (coming July 1) of the new crypto tax - the 1% deducted at source levy.