India RBI Plans to ban Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies

The government is expected to submit a bill during the Budget session 2021 to ban private cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin.

The government intends to propose an official digital currency that would be right issued by the Reserve Bank of India. The Bill to ban cryptocurrencies is amongst the 20 bills that the government requires to produce through the Union Budget, displayed on February 1.

The Bill is titled ‘The Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021′. “To perform a facilitative framework for creating the official digital currency to be announced by the Reserve Bank of India. The Bill also attempts to ban all private cryptocurrencies in India, however, it provides for certain exemptions to promote the underlying Technology of cryptocurrency and its uses,” the government booklet read.

“Private digital currencies have increased popularity in recent years. In India, the regulators and governments have been suspicious about these currencies and are worried about the associated risks. Nevertheless, RBI is examining the opportunity as to whether there is a necessity for a digital version of fiat currency and, in case there is, how to operationalize it,” it noted.

Earlier in 2018, the Reserve Bank of India had banned crypto transactions and informed all banks to stop trading with private cryptocurrencies.

This halted cryptocurrency trading in India. However, in 2020, the Supreme Court order mashed the central bank’s demand on disproportionality spots. Drafted a bill in 2019 that proposed 10-year prison for people who sold or dealt with cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin.

Responding to the latest Bill the government intends to introduce, Nischal Shetty, Founder of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency exchange WazirX, said, “There’s no such entity as a “private cryptocurrency.”

Crypto, by its very nature, is decentralized and public. I hope this is with honor to “currency” usage, and they’re concentrating on that. Attacking digital assets by confusing them to be INR competitors wud be amateurish. A country as high as India should work on understanding the underlying terminologies before performing Technology similar bills in Parliament. Seems like a quick move.

If done wrong, this can probably slay a lot of value held by the general public.”

In January 2021, Bitcoin observed a wave. It traded as high as $38,000 roughly Rs 24.3 lakhs, in Asia.