India’s Prime Minister Calls for Global Action on Crypto

Comparing the digital currency to inflation and climate change, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called for worldwide action on cryptocurrencies.

As CoinDesk reported Monday (Jan. 17), Modi made his comments during the annual World Economic Forum Davos conference.

“Cryptocurrency is an example of the kind of challenges we are facing as a global family with a changing global order,” he said. “To fight this, every nation, every global agency needs to have collective and synchronized action.”

Modi added that the type of technology typically associated with crypto means that just one country can’t make decisions to address the challenges posted by the digital currency.

Read more: India Again Announces Plan to Ban Cryptocurrencies as Digital Rupee Moves Ahead

Last year, Modi introduced the “Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill,” which would impose an outright ban on crypto. However, the bill has reportedly evolved, allowing cryptocurrencies to be used as an asset, but not for currency or to make payments.

Assuming this legislation passes, that would mean the two most populous countries on the planet — China and India — will have some sort of ban on cryptocurrency, thus barring more than 3 billion people from using it.

Speaking at Davos, Modi asked whether multilateral organizations were up to the challenge of dealing with crypto.

“When these institutions were formed, circumstances were different and today they are different,” he said. “That’s why every democratic nation has the responsibility to bring about an emphasis towards reforms in these institutions to make them capable enough to deal with modern challenges in the future.”

See also: State Bank of Pakistan, Government Weighing Crypto Ban

This news comes just days after a report that the government and central bank of Pakistan were considering a ban on all cryptocurrency transactions in the country.

Pakistan’s Sindh High Court has been hearing a case involving digital currency and was urged by the State Bank of Pakistan to ban cryptocurrencies and levy fines against crypto exchanges. With no laws dealing with digital currencies, the status of crypto in Pakistan has been in flux.

The court told Pakistan’s government to come up with crypto regulations by Jan. 20. In October 2021, the government directed officials to create a committee overseen by the federal secretary of finance and issue a report concerning the legal status of cryptocurrency.