India and Nigeria Are Making Major Crypto Moves, But In Different Directions

Government officials from India and Nigeria both made statements on crypto today, but they took surprisingly different directions. Both explicitly acknowledged pros and cons, yet their speeches have many key differences.

India’s Minister of Commerce and Industry focused on the negatives of Web3, although he alluded to a CBDC. Nigeria, meanwhile, is forming a Committee to profitably engage with this risky yet lucrative industry.

India’s Crypto Outlook

As the Web3 industry keeps growing and growing, jurisdictions around the world are forced to grapple with the questions of crypto regulation.

Today, two major regional economies, Nigeria and India, both saw high-level government officials make statements on crypto regulation, but they went in two different directions.

Piyush Goyal, India’s Minister of Commerce and Industry, made a few statements during trade negotiations in Doha, capital of Qatar. He claimed that India has not been encouraging the crypto industry, levying “very heavy” taxes on its users.

Apparently, he instead alluded to launching an Indian CBDC:

“India has also announced that we will be coming out with a digital currency, which will be backed by a Reserve Bank of India guarantee. We don’t encourage [crypto] because we don’t want anybody to be stuck…with a [token] that has no backing and nobody at the backend,” Goyal claimed.

It’s a little unclear what he meant by this. Strictly speaking, India already has its own crypto, launching the digital rupee in 2022. However, this CBDC has been criticized for its lack of popular appeal, reaching a total circulation of $114.5 million after three years.

This may seem impressive, but it really isn’t for a country with over 1 billion people. To put this in perspective, India is a regional leader in terms of crypto adoption, with over $300 billion in on-chain transactions last year. $100 million is practically nothing compared to this.

Goyal may be alluding to resurrecting the digital rupee, or he may be announcing a new project. Either way, his statements seemed overtly hostile.

An Optimistic Viewpoint

Nigeria, meanwhile, is no stranger to prominent crypto scams, but the nation still seems interested in friendly regulation. Abbas Tajudeen, Nigeria’s Speaker of the House, recently inaugurated a Committee on cryptocurrency.

Despite addressing fears of criminal activity, he gestured towards the industry’s economic benefits:

“We have been entrusted with a task of national significance: to review the economic, regulatory and security implications of cryptocurrency. Across the world, financial systems are being reshaped by technology. In Nigeria, cryptocurrency and POS operations have grown rapidly, creating new opportunities for commerce, financial inclusion, and innovation,” Tajudeen said.

In other words, although Tajudeen acknowledged the risks, he focused on the benefits that crypto has brought to Nigeria. So far, his nation’s crypto industry is less developed than India’s, but positive engagement may change this paradigm.

This “reserved, yet bullish” perspective may prove more fruitful than begrudging participation.

It just goes to show, a successful Web3 industry takes a lot of work. It’ll be interesting to see how India and Nigeria both evolve in the crypto space, if these government representatives have their say in policy implementation.