India Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for collective and synchronized global action to tackle the challenges posed by cryptocurrency.

Fast facts

  • Speaking at the 2022 World Economic Forum’s annual Davos conference on Monday, Modi said: “The kind of technology cryptocurrency is associated with makes decisions taken by one country inadequate to meet the challenges posed by cryptocurrency. We have to have common thinking.”
  • He added: “To fight this, every nation, every global agency needs to take collective and synchronized action.”
  • Cryptocurrencies are in a legal gray zone in India, and a bill that would ban certain cryptocurrencies is still on the table.  
  • Modi’s comments on crypto at Davos were similar to his virtual keynote address at the Sydney Dialogue last November, when he said that it was important for all democratic nations to work together on crypto regulation to ensure that it would not end up in the “wrong hands” or “spoil our youth.”
  • Despite regulatory uncertainty, India’s crypto sector has continued to grow, with the number of investors more than doubling from 7 million in 2020 to 15 million in 2021