While addressing an event at Stanford Medicine, Nirmala Sitharaman, the finance minister of India said that India won’t hurriedly finalize a policy on cryptos and virtual digital assets. Rather, the country will make an informed decision after due deliberations across multilateral fora.

At a fireside chat organized by the University, the finance minister said while blockchain had the ability to contribute positively to the economy, it could also be handled and used for terror financing activities or money laundering.

Nirmala Sitharaman added that blockchain is full of potential not only in the payments arena but also in many others. Their intention is in no way to hurt the ecosystem or to even say that they don’t require it, but to define for themselves how they need them and in what manner their development should be encouraged, and how they are going to handle it. That is so because as much potential it may have for a positive contribution to the economy, it also can be handled for not-so-desirable ends – whether it is leading to financing terror or money laundering.

She continued that those are some of the issues, not only for India but for several other nations. It will take time for all of them to be sure within the given available data, they are taking a discerned stance and that can’t be rushed albeit.