India to Leverage Crypto Tracking in Darknet Drug Investigations

• India announced plans to use crypto tracking in cryptocurrency-related drug cases.
• The nation plans to release a discussion paper on crypto policy in September.

In the past several months, cryptocurrency scams have seen a sharp surge at the global level. Recently, leading Indian crypto exchange WazirX was hacked leading to the compromise of user funds. Notably, the country’s Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) recently released a report on the Drug cases. 

According to the NCB data, the usage of cryptocurrency and darknet has surged in the past years. Moreover, the Bureau states that since 2020, there have been a total of 92 registered cases involving cryptocurrency and darknet. The Home Affairs minister of India, Nityanand Rai discussed that the Bureau is working on strategies to track drug cases involving cryptocurrency. 

Nityanand Rai stated during the Parliament discussion: 

“A Special Task Force on Darknet and Crypto Currency has been constituted to monitor suspicious transactions related to drugs on Darknet.” 

Additionally, the minister also stated that, to ensure uniformity in drug law enforcement, training sessions will commence in all the states. He discussed that training in cryptocurrency, darknet, and digital forensics will be included in the programs. 

Apart from cryptocurrency-related drug cases, the NCB also showed 1052 cases that used other means of transactions. Minister Rai stated eleven other reforms introduced to combat Drug abuse in India. 

How is the Cryptocurrency Landscape in India? 

The Indian subcontinent holds one of the largest crypto trader communities in the world. Relatedly, the sector is presently receiving attention from the nation’s regulatory bodies. The committees are developing strategies to regulate the crypto and related digital assets within Indian markets. 

Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency sector in India has also seen increased reports of scams over the past few months. Notably, as aforementioned, the WazirX platform hack resulted in the loss of funds worth $230 million. 

Finally, the government of India announced in the last 24 hours, that it is planning to release a discussion paper on crypto policy by September. 

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