Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said global norms should be in place for emerging tech like cryptocurrency and social media.
Empower democracy
Modi said that those technologies should be used to empower democracy, not undermine it. He was addressing a virtual “Summit for Democracy” hosted by US President Joe Biden.
Modi said that he is proud to represent the world’s largest democracy. “The democratic spirit is integral to our civilisational ethos,” he said. India’s message to the world is that democracy can deliver, has delivered and will continue to deliver, he said.
Cryptocurrency bill
A bill to ban cryptocurrency will be presented in Parliament soon. The Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021, is unlikely to grant Bitcoin the status of legal tender.
Media reports say that the 2021 draft is not the same as the 2019 iteration, which banned all ‘virtual currency activity’, including mining, holding, and trading in cryptocurrencies.
