Consultation paper on crypto almost ready; to be submitted soon: DEA Secretary

New Delhi, May 30 (PTI) Economic Affairs Secretary Ajay Seth on Monday said a consultation paper on cryptocurrencies has been finalised and it will be submitted soon.

A lot of consultation has been done from both domestic and other participants, Seth said on the sidelines of an event organised by the Finance Ministry.

He also said that a global response is needed to deal with the challenges posed by crypto.

On the economy, Seth said despite the challenging environment, India would still be the fastest-growing large economy in the world.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on many occasions has expressed its reservation about such virtual currencies citing a threat to macroeconomic stability.

Speaking on the sidelines of the curtain raiser event of 'Iconic Week' as part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav to be celebrated by the Finance Ministry, Seth said the consultation paper is fairly ready.

"We have consulted not just the domestic institutional stakeholders but also organisations like the World Bank and the IMF. So, we hope that we will soon be in a position to finalise our consultation paper," he said.

Simultaneously, he said, India has also started work on some sort of global regulations.

"Countries which have prohibited, they can't succuss unless there is a global consensus around that. There has to be a broad framework of participation. Digital assets, whatever way we want to deal with those assets, there has to be a broad framework on which all economies have to be together. No country can choose to either of the position. We need a global consensus on crypto regulation," he said.

If you recall, Seth said, the Prime Minister has made this observation time and again.

Expressing hope, he said, India is poised to become the fastest-growing among large economies in the world despite global challenges.

In Union Budget presented earlier this year, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman introduced a tax on trading in cryptocurrencies and related assets like non-fungible tokens (NFTs) at a flat 30 percent and one percent of tax will be deducted at source (TDS) when any such transaction takes place.

There are an estimated 15 million to 20 million crypto investors in India, with total crypto holdings of around USD 5.34 billion.

No official data is available on the size of the Indian crypto market.