The authority in India is reportedly having plans down their pipeline to introduce a legal framework, looking to classify crypto-based digital currencies as “assets” by February soonest. 

Specifically, the nation’s government officials, together with the Indian Finance Ministry, reportedly revealed that the potential legal framework would have cryptocurrencies stand closer to the definition of commodities than currencies. 

Should this regulation receive official approval, it would be a signal of a different approach, compared to being an outright ban on digital assets nationwide, where a few regulators in India have been pondering upon. 

The officials additionally shared that any legislation revolving around cryptocurrencies in the nation would possibly surface around the time the authority finalizes their submission of the Union Budget of India on Feb. 1 – in time to be officially enacted prior to the following fiscal year. 

They further stated that they were interacting with the Reserve Bank of India, or RBI, to finalize the details related to any crypto legal framework.

Granting crypto the definition of an “asset” under Indian law would likely mean retail investors and exchanges based locally would be subjected to tax obligations. 

The Tax Department of India was reportedly contemplating applying taxes to crypto earnings via trades and exchanges, but no decision has seemingly been reached from anyone in government at the time of publication.

The choice of India – having a current population of around 1.4 billion – going with the direction of coming up with a concrete legal framework for cryptocurrencies would likely create major ripples throughout the sphere. The authoritative body of the nation has not adopted a firm stance regarding digital currency regulations, after overturning a blanket ban from the RBI in March.