Cryptocurrency Regulation: An Indian Perspective

Cryptocurrencies, with a market capitalization of over $200 billion, can no longer be dismissed as just a fad. While still making up only a tiny fraction of overall global financial markets, they have matured from the ranks of fledgling startups to being leveraged by large enterprises for use cases ranging from global payments, asset-backed tokens for metals and commodities, fiat currency-equivalent digital coins, the Internet of Things, decentralized cloud storage and more. 

Earlier this year, JPMorgan Chase announced its United States dollar-equivalent JPM Coin for business-to-business payments; a consortium of large banks announced Fnality International, which aims to facilitate cross-border payments across five major currencies; and Facebook introduced Libra, targeting retail payments.

Several central banks are closely monitoring cryptocurrencies to both determine regulations to protect investors as well as explore their benefits in the context of central bank digital…