With the bill, the government also aims to formulate a framework for the official digital currency of India, which will be issued by RBI.
On Tuesday, the legislative schedule was announced with 26 bills listed for the Winter Session of the Parliament set to commence later this month. The bills up for legislation include the Cryptocurrencies and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill (2021), which will regulate cryptocurrencies in India.
The cryptocurrency bill to be tabled in the upcoming winter session of the parliament will ban most private cryptocurrencies in India, apart from few exceptions.
As per the legislative agenda, the bill introduced will leave only certain cryptocurrencies permitted to promote the underlying technology and its applications. With the bill, the government also aims to formulate a framework for the official digital currency of India, which will be issued by the Reserve Bank of India.
After voicing serious concerns about misuse of private cryptocurrencies, the centre has said that India will launch its own digital currency in December.
While there is no official data, Reuters notes that industry estimates put the total number of crypto investors in India at 15 million to 20 million, with about $5.39 billion worth of total crypto holdings.
Led by Bitcoin, which is now priced around $60,000 after doubling since the beginning of 2021, there is rising interest in cryptocurrencies among Indians.
The bill comes months after India softened its stance on cryptocurrencies from looking to criminalise possession, issuance, mining, trade and transfer to now discouraging trade. As per information quoted from sources by Reuters, the government plans to do this by imposing heavy capital gains and other taxes. The wire agency also quoted a senior government official as saying that the plan is to eventually ban private cryptocurrencies while India paves the way for a new Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).
Earlier this month while speaking at the Sydney Dialogue event, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that it is important that all democratic nations work together to ensure that cryptocurrency doesn't end up in the wrong hands and spoil the youth. PM Modi had recently chaired a high-level meeting to discuss issues related to bitcoin and put forth their concern over the unregulated crypto market in India and what it can lead to.
With inputs from agencies.
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