Majority Of Indians Don't Want Cryptocurrency To Be Legalised, Finds Survey

Amid all the fuss surrounding cryptocurrencies in India, we seem to have missed a very pertinent question. What do Indians want?

According to a new survey, majority of Indians do not want cryptocurrencies to be legalised. The opinion poll, undertaken by pollster LocalCircles revealed that 54 per cent Indians don't want an explicit legalisation of cryptocurrencies, but instead want cryptocurrencies to be taxed like a digital assets in a foreign country, Bloomberg reported.

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Government's proposed law rattles crypto

The survey took into account the opinion of 56,000 Indians over the last 15 days, in the backdrop of government's proposed law to regulate the use of cryptocurrencies in India.

Out of those polled, 26 per cent claimed that cryptocurrencies should be legalised and then taxed in India. The remaining 20 per cent didn't pick a side. When the draft of cryptocurrency bill in India went public, investors went into a complete frenzy, causing cryptocurrencies to crash considerably.

Also read: Govt Regulation Is Good: Five Crypto Startups React To India's Crypto Bill Noise

The bill claims that a digital currency backed by India's central banking authority will be rolled out, while all private cryptocurrencies could be banned in India.

According to LocalCircles, about 71 per cent of all respondents have "low or zero trust" in cryptocurrencies. At the same time, the absence of a regulatory framework puts investors at constant risk.

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Supporters of cryptocurrency claim that its support is rooted in lack of regulation, i.e., its decentralised nature. Naturally, states don't like that.

Also read: Is Cryptocurrency Getting Banned In India? Here's What Investors Should Know And Do

While the contents of India's cryptocurrency bill aren't final yet, some sort of regulation seems inevitable. Frankly, a government that demonetise currency out of circulation overnight should have no qualms about imposing strict regulations on cryptocurrencies.

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Yet, we still don't know how this regulation will function, for cryptocurrencies thrive on the lack of any such regulation.

What do you think - should cryptocurrencies be legalised in India? Should regulations be imposed? Let us know in the comments below. For more in the world of tech and science, keep reading Indiatimes.com.

Citation

More Than Half of Indians Surveyed Don¡¯t Want Crypto Legalized. (2021). Bloomberg.