In recent days there were a lot of expectations to see if the Indian government will try and soften. its stand on cryptocurrency but, on Wednesday it was announced via a government bulletin that
India will go ahead with a ban on most cryptocurrencies in the country under a long-awaited 2021 proposed Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill.
While details on the bill after the announcement is not known, the bill regulating the use of cryptocurrency is still to be tabled in Parliament’s Winter Session.
According to the local newspaper, trading through cryptocurrency will still likely continue under the proposed bill, but users are expected to buy from exchanges that meet certain requirements set by the government.
With various recent cases of investors getting affected, the bill is reportedly said to focus on restricting who is allowed to create cryptocurrencies in the country, with the sole purpose of protecting investors.
RBI and crypto
Back in March 2020, The Reserve Bank of India virtually banned any sort of trading in cryptocurrency in India. It directed that all entities regulated through digital currency shall not continue to do so or shall not try to provide means for anyone to do the same.
The statement released back then even insisted that regulated entities providing such services should exit the said agreement in a matter of three months time period. But following that year the Supreme Court struck down the curb on trading in any cryptocurrency trade in India.
In a statement on concerns related to cryptocurrency RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das has previously stated that there will not be a change in the RBI’s stance against the digital currency.
He said that there are major concerns when it comes to cryptocurrencies and that these concerns have been conveyed directly to the government.”investors, it is for each investor to do his/her due diligence and take a very carefull and prudent call.” he said.
Cryptocurrency bill
Citing lack of transparency as the primary reason, the Indian government. Government officials chaired by PM Narendra Modi opened a comprehensive meeting in 2021 to form regulatory measures the government could initiate with regard to cryptocurrency in India. Following this, the central government stated that it is all set to table matters related to the Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill in Parliament during the winter session.
On November 27th the government through a bulletin let out a statement saying that it’s all set to introduce a Bill aimed at prohibiting private cryptocurrencies in India.
The new bill will reportedly aim at prohibiting most to all private cryptocurrencies in India and on the other hand, will provide a constructive framework for the official creation of a national digital currency under the Reserve Bank of India.
The statement read that the bill will also seek to prohibit all private cryptocurrencies in India from trading. However, it did mention that it allows for certain exceptions in certain cases to help promote the underlying technical aspects of cryptocurrency and its uses in the country.
However the official statement has been released by the government which defined what exactly was meant and who comes under private cryptocurrency, and everything related to the ‘regulation’ is still at the nascent stage.
