The CEO of an Indian cryptocurrency exchange discusses what to expect from the bill.

According to speculations, the Indian government may ban self-custodial cryptocurrency wallets and only allow Indian crypto exchanges. The CEO of a prominent cryptocurrency exchange in India has spoken out against potential limitations. The Indian government has scheduled a cryptocurrency law for consideration during the current session of parliament.

In India, a cryptocurrency law is awaiting consideration in the current session of parliament. Nirmala Sitharaman, the country’s finance minister, stated that the law needs to be revised from its initial version, which sought to prohibit cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin and ether. However, she has yet to divulge what is in the bill, leading to significant conjecture.

In a series of tweets on Friday, the CEO of local cryptocurrency exchange Wazirx addressed some of the assumptions.

According to Wazirx CEO Nischal Shetty, “there have been unconfirmed reports” that “‘self custodial wallets’ may not be allowed as part of India’s crypto bill.” There have also been reports that “only Indian exchanges can be used,” according to the CEO, who went on to explain:

I don’t believe you can prohibit the use of software. Self custodial wallets are just software. Without self custodial wallets, you cannot interact with many of the decentralized services.

“As an industry, we would never recommend this,” he said emphatically.

The CEO continued: “If we want regulation then services that are regulated need to be in India. These services need to follow the rules & regulations of our country.” He noted, “Every nation that’s regulating crypto is following a similar approach,” emphasizing that “All exchanges can register [their] company in India as well.”

Shetty then expressed his thoughts on whether he expected crypto rules to apply just to Indian exchanges, stating:

Government will expect centralised crypto service providers to follow the law of India. It’s the least to expect from any company that services Indians.

He further opined: “We strongly support competition. If a product or service is not up to the mark then competition will boot it out. But competition should be fair. When regulations come in, every exchange will have to follow it & compete. Let’s build the best crypto ecosystem in India.”

The Indian government has scheduled a cryptocurrency bill for the winter session of parliament. This Thursday, the country’s finance minister responded to inquiries regarding the government’s planned cryptocurrency law. According to reports, a cabinet note indicated that the government does not intend to outlaw crypto assets, but rather to regulate them.

Patrick

Coincu News