Cryptocurrency could be used for Money Laundering and Terror Funding: Nirmala Sitharaman

On Tuesday, Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman made a strong argument for regulating cryptocurrencies at a global level to diminish the risk of money laundering and terror funding. While participating in a high-level panel discussion organized by the IMF, Nirmala Sitharaman told that as long as the non-governmental activity of the crypto assets was through unhosted wallets, the regulation was going to be very difficult. However, she informed that the cross-border payments between countries will become very effective through Central Bank-driven digital currencies.

The Indian Finance Minister commented, "The risk which worries me more on the non-governmental domain is essentially you're looking at unhosted wallets across the borders, across the globe... So, regulation cannot be done by a single country within its terrain through some effective method and for doing it across the borders, technology doesn't have a solution which will be acceptable to various sovereigns at the same time applicable within each of the territory.” During a panel discussion on the topic 'Money at a Crossroad: Public or Private Digital Money?' Nirmala Sitharaman informed that the risks involved will have to be approached in a different manner, because for each user case, the risks could also be different, depending on the economy.