Indian Pre-Budget Survey: 79% of Indians Want Government to Regulate Crypto & NFTs

A Grant Thornton Bharat survey, which determines expectations before the country’s budget for the financial year 2023, shows that 79% of Indians want regulation for cryptocurrencies and NFTs. The asset class is highly popular in India, and the government is likely working on a regulatory framework.

A survey by Grant Thornton Bharat shows that a majority of Indians believe that the government should regulate the cryptocurrency space. Published on Jan. 23, the report saw an overwhelming support for regulation, with 79% of Indians saying that both crypto and NFTs should see some form of regulation.

The pre-budget expectations survey was taken to get a sense of what citizens wanted accounted for in the annual budget. For the financial year 2023, citizens wanted to focus on crypto regulation, green energy, a data privacy bill, and public credit registry initiatives.

Vivek Iyer, Partner-Financial Services, Grant Thornton Bharat, said that there was a clear demand for forward-looking initiatives,

“The market survey clearly demonstrates the expectation for the government to be forward-looking by focusing on initiatives around evolving risks, that help strengthen stability and growth of the financial services ecosystem.”

India’s citizens are very enthusiastic about the crypto market, with a large portion of the population already in the market. The downside of this popularity is that the uninformed have fallen prey to crypto scams, with scam crypto websites visited 10 million times by Indians.

India inching closer towards regulation

India has long been known to be hesitant when it comes to a decision on cryptocurrency regulation. For years, it has been oscillated between a complete ban on crypto and regulation. However, more recent developments such that regulation is on the cards.

The Securities and Exchange Board could oversee the regulation of crypto in India. The country’s officials have also clarified that bitcoin would not be recognized as a currency. Taxation will almost certainly be implemented for the asset class as well, though there has not been an update on this since reports first came out in Nov. 2021.

As lawmakers are working on regulation, authorities have been working to limit damage to investors. Crypto sponsorships have been banned for cricket’s 2022 Indian Premier League, while banks have sent warning emails out to crypto investors.

What do you think about this subject? Write to us and tell us!