No worst-case scenario for crypto sector in terms of regulations: Sumit Gupta

livemint.com:

The Centre is close to bringing in a bill in Parliament to regulate cryptocurrencies in India. Despite the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) time and again highlighting economic, financial, operational, and legal risks, crypto investors have surged manifold in the country. 

Sumit Gupta, co-founder and CEO of CoinDCX, believes that 2021 was a landmark year for both the blockchain and crypto industry. He spoke to Mint on crypto regulations, CoinDCX’s growth and industry outlook. 

Edited excerpts:

How big of a disappointment was India not seeing regulations for cryptocurrencies in 2021?

Governments across the world developing rules to regulate cryptocurrencies have expressed the need of discussions and deliberations. While I would have liked to see some movement on the bill, at the same time I also feel a sense of reassurance that by taking more time the government will give the technology its rightful due. As an industry, we have exposure to many developments in the industry and technology and are happy to work together with government agencies to provide data, information, and insights so that we can build better regulations.

This is important because even as the government recognises the transformative potential of crypto and blockchain and is paying close attention to their usage and potential applications in everyday lives, there is a lot of information asymmetry as well.

Is a complete ban on cryptocurrencies possible in India at this point?

Many governments have tried to ban crypto, but its decentralised nature makes it difficult and unviable. After having carefully studied various approaches, including blanket bans, the majority of developed and developing nations have decided to regulate crypto. What is really needed,