India’s finance minister has warned investors about cryptocurrency as the country’s Enforcement Directorate (ED) investigates a number of crypto exchanges and freezes the assets of some trading platforms.
Indian Finance Minister Warns About Crypto
India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman warned about the cryptocurrency at an event organized by the BJP Economic Cell on Saturday. He warned the public and entrepreneurs that cryptocurrency is not currency, affirming:
The government has already warned. I think we will all have to share our thoughts and proceed with some caution on this.
Thursday, News 18 reported that the finance minister asked investors to be cautious with cryptocurrency, noting that a new cryptocurrency law is coming soon.
His remarks came as India’s Enforcement Directorate (ED) is probing cryptocurrency exchanges in connection with its money laundering investigations. The law enforcement agency has frozen the assets of at least two cryptocurrency exchanges this month. Wazirx’s bank assets worth $8 million were frozen on August 5, and Vauld’s banking and crypto assets worth about $46 million were frozen last week.
In response to the ED’s allegations, Vauld issued a statement on Saturday revealing that he fully cooperated with the ED and provided all required information and documents after receiving a subpoena in July. Noting that the freeze order is specific to a customer whose account was deactivated after using the exchange’s services for a short period of time, the company noted:
We disagree with the freezing order. We follow strict KYC requirements in all countries including India.
“We are seeking legal advice on our best course of action to protect the interests of the company, its customers and all stakeholders,” Vauld detailed.
Tags in this story
Crypto Law, Crypto Regulation, Cryptocurrency Regulation, ED, Freeze Orders, India, India Crypto, Indian Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, Nirmala Sitharaman Crypto, Vauld, Wazirx
What do you think about the Finance Minister warning investors about crypto and the ED investigating crypto exchanges? Let us know in the comments section below.
Kevin Helms
An Austrian economics student, Kevin found Bitcoin in 2011 and has been an evangelist ever since. His interests lie in Bitcoin security, open source systems, network effects, and the intersection of economics and cryptography.
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