Nirmala: India not against Blockchain but wants Crypto Transparency

Days after announcing a steep 70% penalty on unreported crypto gains, India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the Indian government is not against blockchain technology but would want “transparency in crypto transactions.”

Sitharaman was speaking at the Budget Round Table 2025 show organized by India Today TV in New Delhi on Tuesday. When asked whether the government’s stance on crypto has changed after U.S. President Donald Trump openly adopted crypto assets, Nirmala said her government is not against distributed ledger technology (DLT). 

“We have always said we are not against Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), but we need to know where transactions are happening, which is why we brought in TDS and TCS,” said Nirmala.

During the talk, journalist Rahul Kanwal brought up how India’s tough stance has forced 97% of crypto-trading Indians to move offshore. He also pointed out that the country has lost an estimated Rs 6000 crore in tax revenue from TDS alone, as many Web3 entrepreneurs have packed up and relocated to places like Dubai and the UAE, where regulations are far more favorable.

With former U.S. President Donald Trump openly backing crypto and even launching his coin, Kanwal asked if this global shift had made the Indian government rethink its position.

Nirmala added, “We followed it up during the India’s presidency on G20 should be a global understanding on how to regulate or how to tackle the issues of trading or cryptocurrency, we took it to the G20 at a wide-ranging consultation IMF, FSB and some kind of progress have happened under the Brazilian presidency.”

Sensing that she hadn’t answered his question, Kanwal pressed again: “Are you rethinking your approach to crypto regulation, especially now that Donald Trump is embracing it? There seems to be a clear contrast between how Washington D.C. and New Delhi are handling this.”

At this point, Sitharaman looked visibly frustrated and shut down the discussion with, “We are India. I will think about India.” And just like that, she moved on, making it clear she wasn’t willing to talk about the topic any further.