A Bill to prohibit all private cryptocurrencies in India with certain exceptions is expected to be taken up for final consideration and passing during the Winter Session starting on November 29, 2021. The Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021, is among 26 new Bills of a total of 29 Bills in the government’s legislative agenda. The government’s objective is “To create a facilitative framework for the creation of the official digital currency to be issued by the Reserve Bank of India.”
The Bill also asks to prohibit all private cryptocurrencies in India; however, it allows for certain exceptions to promote its underlying technology and uses.
This comes a week after the first-ever Parliamentary panel debate on the broad outlines of crypto finance, where consent was reached that cryptocurrency can’t be stopped but must be monitored.
The standing committee on the finance conference was chaired by BJP’s Jayant Sinha, who met representatives of crypto exchanges, Blockchain and Crypto Assets Council (BACC), industry bodies, and other stakeholders on November 16.
ALSO READ: CoinSwitch Kuber: Crypto Platform’s Journey from Global to Local Operations
Security of investors’ money and misleading ads in the media regarding investment potential and risks have long been a cause of concern. The government has held many meetings with all stakeholders to discuss the administration of digital currencies.
The Reserve Bank of India and the Securities and Exchange Board of India have discussed the unregulated growth of cryptocurrencies in India, keeping vulnerable retail investors in mind.
“On crypto…we have serious concerns from the point of view of macroeconomic and financial stability. How the issue has to be dealt with – we have given our detailed suggestions to the government; as far as I know, the matter is under the active consideration of the government, and the government will decide,” RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das had said at a media event.
Former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Raghuram Rajan believes that most will die out of the 6,000-odd cryptocurrencies in existence today.
RELATED: CoinSwitch Kuber, CoinDCX Founders Join IAMAI’s Crypto Council as Cochairs
On Wednesday, he said – ‘If things have value only because they will be pricier down the line, that’s a bubble… Many cryptos have value only because there is a greater fool out there willing to buy.’
Rajan matched the current trend in cryptocurrencies to the tulip mania in the Netherlands of the 17th century. “Cryptos may pose the same problem as unregulated chit funds, which take money from people and go bust, a lot of people holding crypto assets are going to be aggrieved,” he stated.
