Youths investing in crypto: Campaign continues to inform on high risk, says Sitharaman

Even at a time when the Crypto Bill remains delayed in India, there are thousands of youngsters who are investing huge amounts in the digital platform aiming at drawing bigger returns. In fact many of these are students who are putting their pocket money into the system to get more in return.

Youths investing in crypto: Campaign continues to inform on high risk, says Sitharaman
Source: IANS

ARCHANA SHARMA

Jaipur, Feb 20 (IANS) Even at a time when the Crypto Bill remains delayed in India, there are thousands of youngsters who are investing huge amounts in the digital platform aiming at drawing bigger returns. In fact many of these are students who are putting their pocket money into the system to get more in return.

Rahul, a commerce second year student in Jaipur, invested Rs 5,000 and got Rs 1 lakh plus in return a few months later in 2022. Soon after, his cousins and friends started investing their pocket money into it and the trend continues even today.

His cousin also invested a huge amount, however the currency tumbled soon after. It was his college fees and he had to face problems, but managed as his friends pooled money for him.

This story is not limited to Rahul and his cousin, but there are many other youngsters who are putting their parents' hard earned money into crypto to earn quick returns.

The trend also continues in small villages in Rajasthan where people from all ages and sections are putting their money into it.

As Cryptocurrency basically is used anonymously to conduct transactions globally between account holders, it raises currency concerns for the governments of different countries.

In India, the Cryptocurrency Bill has been listed twice but got delayed.

The Government of India was scheduled to introduce new cryptocurrency regulations during the Winter Session of Parliament. This was the second time as the first time it happened was during the Budget Session of Parliament in 2021.

IANS raised the query on crypto with Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman during a press conference in Jaipur on Monday.

She said, "In India, crypto is on the agenda of G20. This is because we think technology driven crypto asset creation and buying and selling of assets in the crypto world will have to have international cooperation. The reason is they can be anywhere but operated in India or they can be in India but operated somewhere else."

"In the matter of concern for youngsters going into it which you raised, we have both regulators and national security deposit centres which have also done a lot of campaigning. And this campaign continues every now and then to alert people that it is a high risk area and they should be aware of it. With regard to the bill, discussion continues and when there is some update, we will let you know."

The campaign will continue in the near future to make people aware on crypto, she added.