The Biggest Risk Of Cryptocurrency Is Money Laundering And Terrorist Financing: The Finance Minister 

The Union Minister of Finance, Nirmala Sitharaman, emphasised India’s success in the digital world and the ongoing attempts to build the digital infrastructure framework over the past decade. 

According to Union Minister of Finance Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday, the biggest risk of cryptocurrency could be money laundering and their use to finance terrorism in the wake of the leading fintech revolution. 

As Ms. Sitharaman stated at a seminar during the ongoing spring meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF): “I think the biggest risk for all countries across the board will be the money laundering aspect and also the aspect of currency being used for financing terror.” 
I think regulation using technology is the only answer. Regulation using technology will have to be so adept that it will not be behind the curve but be sure that it is on top of it. And that’s not possible. If any country thinks that it can handle it, it must be across the board, “the Minister said. 

The Union Minister arrived in Washington on an official visit to attend the World Bank’s spring meetings, the G20 Finance Ministers Meeting, and the Central Bank Governors Meeting (FMCBG). 

The finance minister took part in a high-level panel discussion on “Money at a Crossroads” on the first day of her visit, which was hosted by Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the IMF.”We are at the crossroads around how fast, how far, and in what proportion, but I see this as a one-way street in which digital money is going to play a bigger role,” the IMF chief said in her opening remarks. 

 Ms. Sitharaman highlighted India’s digital performance and the government’s efforts to develop a digital infrastructure foundation over the last decade, stressing the growth in digital adoption rate in India during the COVID-19 epidemic. 

 If I use 2019 data, the digital adoption rate in India is about 85 percent. But globally that same year, it was only somewhere near 64 per cent. So, the pandemic time helped us to test and prove to ourselves that it is simple to use, ordinary people can use it, and adoption has actually been proven, “Ms. Sitharaman asserted. 

 In addition to her meetings with the World Bank, IMF, G20, and Financial Action Task Force (FATF), Sitharaman also attended an event at the Atlantic Council, a Washington, DC-based think tank, on Monday. 

According to a Ministry of Finance announcement, the tour would also involve bilateral meetings with Indonesia, South Korea, Sri Lanka, and South Africa, as well as a high-level meeting with World Bank President Mr. David Malpass.

(Source- ndtv.com)