Crypto is the Newest Weapon. India Must Treat It as One

THERE IS A GROWING sense of inevitability being crafted around cryptocurrency. From lobbyists in financial capitals to think tanks aligned with Western interests, the narrative is being seeded that India must loosen its stance or risk falling behind.

- Srinath Sridharan

That crypto is innovation. That regulation is resistance. But beneath this carefully engineered push lies a more strategic playbook - one that India must read for what it is.

Cryptoisation of geopolitical weaponry is the latest in town. The United States - already a master of proxy power - is adding an anarchist idea, crypto, to its arsenal. After all, its global dominance over the last century has relied not just on economic scale or military might, but also on carefully managed flows of arms, illicit finance, and at times, even narcotics. Crypto may simply be the next iteration of that playbook. Its decentralised nature and regulatory elusiveness make it an attractive tool in grey-zone warfare.

India must draw its own line. That line begins with keeping crypto out of the hands of retail and domestic financial systems. We do not allow civilians to stockpile missile systems, however sophisticated they may be. We do not permit private entities to operate with military-grade technology, however commercially attractive it might seem. The same logic must apply here. If crypto is a potential weapon, then it belongs in the domain of state control and strategic deterrence - not in the pockets of consumers, investors, or tech entrepreneurs chasing the next rally.