Thanks to TechCrunch for this:
NEW DELHI, INDIA –The government of India has listed a bill that will prohibit “all private cryptocurrencies” in India and provide a framework for creation of an official digital currency to be issued by the Reserve Bank of India.
Titled “The Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021,” the bill will be considered in the ongoing Budget session of Parliament.
The RBI is already exploring the possibility of issuing a digital version of the rupee that could eventually come as the country’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) — based on the technological background of cryptocurrencies.
In the agenda (PDF) published on the lower house website, the legislation seeks to “prohibit all private cryptocurrencies in India,” but allow “for certain exceptions to promote the underlying technology [blockchain] of cryptocurrency and its uses.”
The law also seeks to “create a facilitative framework for creation of the official digital currency” that will be issued by the nation’s central bank, Reserve Bank of India, the agenda said.
The country has Bitcoin, WazirX, BuyUcoin, CoinDCX, and CoinSwitch Kuber, among others as leading cryptocurrency platforms that would be directly impacted by the restrictions planned by the government.
Vishal Gupta, Co-Founder of Bitcoin Alliance India, predicts that the business of cryptocurrencies will continue — irrespective of the government move.
“Regulating exchanges is a more sensible option that most countries have adopted,” he told Gadgets 360. “Coinbase, an American exchange, is now going public on Nasdaq in America.”
“I hope we are not left chasing and catching up with the rest of the world as always.”
