‘Threat not diminished’: Why is India’s RBI ramping up crypto warnings?
Reiterating its long-standing opposition to cryptocurrency legalization, the Reserve Financial institution of India (RBI) informed the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance that digital digital property (VDAs), like Bitcoin [BTC] and different cryptocurrencies, pose critical dangers to India.
The RBI asserts that as a result of crypto property perform outdoors the established banking system and are subsequently difficult to control and oversee, they’ve the potential to jeopardize monetary stability.
The central financial institution additionally cautioned that since many buying and selling platforms and repair suppliers are based mostly overseas and are unavailable to Indian regulators, cryptocurrencies may help with unlawful actions like cash laundering, narcotics trafficking, and financing terrorism.
Moreover, the RBI also mentioned through the assembly that European jurisdictions solely permit digital property underneath stringent regulatory frameworks. They even cited nations like China and Qatar which have fully banned crypto-related actions.
The ICAI shares a unique viewpoint
However, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) adopted a unique place and advocated for the implementation of an intensive authorized framework for VDAs somewhat than a prohibition.
To extend transparency and regulatory oversight, the ICAI acknowledged that it might help within the improvement of accounting requirements, monetary reporting rules, and compliance tips.
Accounting and Auditing for VDAs ICAI can undertake complete analysis on the varied types of VDAs and analyse their financial traits. Primarily based on such analysis, ICAI could develop detailed steerage on their recognition, measurement, presentation, and disclosure in monetary statements.
This twin opinion comes as India’s authorities continues to tax cryptocurrency transactions with out giving them authorized standing.
Although the nation’s present crypto tax system is unaltered, AMBCrypto lately reported that India’s Union Funds 2026 established a extra stringent compliance framework for the crypto business by recommending fines for organizations that neglect to inform tax authorities of crypto-asset transactions.
Why does the RBI take into account cryptocurrency a menace?
This comes after a two-quarter slowdown in retail cryptocurrency buying and selling exercise, which dropped to $979 billion in Q1 2026, an 11% year-over-year decline from Q1 2025, in accordance with TRM Labs information.
In the meantime, TRM Labs information additionally confirmed that the primary half of 2026 noticed a file 207 safety breaches within the crypto business, essentially the most TRM Labs has ever tracked in a six-month interval.
The full losses, nevertheless, dropped precipitously to $972 million, lower than half of the $2.3 billion that was stolen throughout the identical interval in 2025, regardless of the spike in assault frequency.
Remarking on this, Ari Redbord, World Head of Coverage at TRM Labs, stated
The underlying menace has not diminished. In truth, it has gotten extra subtle and extra harmful.
This proves that although the cryptocurrency market has modified from being a speculative, retail-driven space to turning into a extra institutional ecosystem, 2026 has been considered one of its most difficult years.
Occasions like safety breaches, tighter liquidity, geopolitical tensions, regulatory uncertainty, and decrease retail participation have slowed investor sentiment and market exercise.
Closing Abstract
- The RBI and ICAI share polar reverse recommendations on cryptocurrency operation in India.
- The rise in scams and a slowdown in retail exercise is perhaps the rationale behind this stringent guidelines suggestion in India.
