IAMAI which is the cryptocurrency panel of mobile and internet firms has stated that the finance minister Arun Jaitley’s speech about virtual currency has been misreported and mixed up. Though the Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Committee (BACC) of IAMAI is satisfied and happy that the finance minister has realized the importance and the gaining popularity of cryptocurrency and has chosen to talk about it in the budget, however, the use of his words being misinterpreted has caused a lot of disappointment.
In his speech, Arun Jaitley stated that the cryptocurrencies are not legal tenders and that measures will be taken so that they can be used as a part of the payment systems. The panel of IAMAI said that on January 2, 2018, in Rajya Sabha, the finance minister had put the same point forward saying that bitcoins and all such cryptocurrencies are not legal tenders. However, IAMAI panel feels that only currency notes and coins are legal tenders and that gold, stocks, bonds and all such assets too are not legal tenders. In their statement, the panel of IAMAI said that every citizen and business in the country play their own role in order to stop the illegitimate activities regardless of the fact that the financing is done using legal tender, gold, cryptocurrency or something else.
IAMAI states that their members maintain a no-compromise situation to the processes know your customer and anti-money laundering. They motivate the government to work in a committed manner with them in order to detect, eliminate and report any suspicious transaction which will also further help in generating confidence in their banking partners. The panel said that they will help the government in eliminating the use of crypto-assets as part of the payment system. This positive development will be welcomed and seen as an important milestone in the journey of policy-clarity and customer education.