India Won’t Be Completely Shutting Down All of Bitcoin (BTC) and Crypto Says Finance Minister

After a lot of speculation around the crypto ban in India, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has finally spoken out clearing the air! Speaking at the India Today Conclave, Sitharaman said that India “will not shut off all cryptocurrency” and will rather allow some “experiments” with the technology as an alternative form of payment.

Well, these encouraging words come just at a time when there has been multiple news about the crypto ban in India. India’s central bank – the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) – has been hinting at a crypto ban in the last few months.

This is a much welcome statement for the Indian crypto community which has been waiting on the sidelines for some positive development in this matter. Also, the Indian Finance Minister’s statement comes right when Bitcoin (BTC) hits its all-time high of $61K.

Sitharaman further acknowledged the fintech developments taking place in India. She suggested that blockchain technology is the backbone of FinTech and crypto, and thus there should be a window available for some experiments.  The Finance Minister added:

“From our (the finance ministry’s) side we are very clear that we are not shutting all options. We will allow a certain window for people to do experiments on blockchain, bitcoins, or cryptocurrency. We are not going to shut it off all”.

India’s Emerging FinTech Landscape

For the very first time, the Finance Minister openly acknowledged the developments taking place in India’s finTech landscape. She added:

“On fintech, on blockchain, there is a lot of work going on in India and we will certainly encourage that. We have got several presentations. Much works at some states level are happening. And we want to take it in a big way in IFSC or Gift City in Gandhinagar”.

These encouraging words will provide a huge relief for retail crypto investors in India. Nischal Shetty, the CEO of India’s largest crypto exchange WazirX welcomed the recent comments from the Finance Minister.

There you go! #Bitcoin crypto will NOT be shut off.

CBDC does not mean shutting off other Crypto assets & utilities.

India, your time is here. Time to BUIDL and win 🚀

Thank you @nsitharaman ji, you’ve brought joy to this sector#IndiaWantsCryptopic.twitter.com/mySjPkoyt0

— Nischal (WazirX) ⚡️ (@NischalShetty) March 14, 2021