India’s Fintech Summit Excludes Crypto and Stablecoin Debate

India’s most prominent financial technology summit, the Global Fintech Fest (GFF) 2025, intentionally excluded private crypto and stablecoins from its main agenda.

The move signals the government’s strategic pivot from speculative digital assets toward a state-managed digital transformation. It also coincided with a massive crackdown on offshore crypto exchanges, clarifying that India’s FinTech future focuses strictly on technologies under the purview of the government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

Government-Led Digital Transformation Dominates the Agenda

The GFF 2025, held in Mumbai from October 7-9, featured major government figures, including the Union Finance Minister and officials from the RBI and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). However, reviewing the official tracks and speaker lists reveals a consistent omission of private crypto assets.

Instead, the discourse concentrated on areas of direct state control. These included the financial applications of AI, national digital infrastructure (like DigiLocker), CBDC advancement, and sustainable finance. This pattern suggests authorities intentionally compartmentalized private, unregulated crypto assets. India maintains that these assets are not legal tender. The approach reinforces the government’s stance: financial innovation is welcome only on its own terms.

FIU-IND Enforcement Action Blocks Offshore Platforms

The decision to exclude crypto from the official FinTech dialogue was underscored by simultaneous, decisive regulatory action. In early October 2025, India’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU-IND) ordered blocking access to 25 offshore crypto exchanges for failing to register under the Prevention of Money-Laundering Act (PMLA). These platforms did not comply with India’s mandatory AML and KYC requirements.