The Blockchain and Crypto Assets Council (BACC), which was established to represent cryptocurrency exchanges before authorities including the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and other important government institutions, has been disbanded by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI).
Two persons with knowledge of the development claim that IAMAI made the decision to disassociate itself from cryptocurrencies.
The debate about abolishing BACC, which was established in 2017, has been simmering for a while amid the intensifying dispute between the central bank and cryptocurrency exchanges on the legality of virtual currencies in India. Shaktikanta Das, governor of the RBI, has declared cryptocurrencies to be an “obvious hazard.”
“The decision to abolish BACC was made last week. The RBI had made it plain that its opinions on cryptocurrencies had not changed, but negotiations between the exchanges and the industry association were failing, a person with knowledge of the situation told ET.
In light of growing concerns, more scrutiny, and harsher tax regulations from the government, these exchanges, as a member of BACC, made many submissions to the finance ministry and the government on behalf of IAMAI during the previous few years.
IAMAI was founded in 2004 as a lobbying organization that advances the interests of the digital services sector. Its member’s number over 400 Indian and foreign companies. Some of the industries it represents include Edtech, online gambling, digital payments, fintech, and digital commerce.
Sanjay Gupta, vice president, and managing director of Google India is the chairman of IAMAI, while Ajit Mohan, vice president, and managing director of Facebook India, is the vice-chairman.
BACC served as a self-regulatory authority for the cryptocurrency sector, which is still subject to legal uncertainty. Along with other things, the organization established a uniform code of conduct that all cryptocurrency platforms must adhere to. According to a story from ET earlier this year, the code will likely be amended to prevent conflicts with authorities.
Crypto exchanges have the impression that they have adequately established policy heft to interact with the authorities. Both Coinswitch Kuber and CoinDCX recently named R Venkatesh as senior vice-president for public policy and Kiran Vivekananda as chief of public policy and government affairs, respectively.
According to the individual who was cited above, BACC could continue to operate independently of IAMAI since the exchanges want to work on the policy together and it continues to be a major concern for the sector.
