Indian Government is all set to ban cryptocurrencies in India. The news has been making headlines for a long time, especially after the recent Parliament Budget session 2021-2022.
Now, it is said the Central Government is aiming to introduce a ban on digital currency. The Union Finance Ministry is planning to propose a new bill which will not only ban digital money but will also fine anyone trading in the country or even holding such digital assets.
The ban would be a big blow to digital currencies which started in India like Bitcoin, Dogecoin and other crypto money investors.
In addition to fines and ban on crypto currencies, the new bill would also criminalise possession, issuance, mining, trading and transferring crypto assets.
If this happens, India would be the first major economy to make holding cryptocurrency illegal. Even China, which has banned mining and trading, does not penalise possession.
However, investors who already invested in cryptocurrency would be given a window of six months to liquidate their assets.
In India, over 7 million people are believed to have invested more than $1 billion in cryptocurrency. As per sources, the digital currency industry is also hoping the Government would not impose a complete ban on cryptocurrencies but regulate it with certain laws.
The prediction of a ban on cryptocurrency came at a time when World’s biggest cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, hit a record of $60,000.
Meanwhile, on the 14th of March, Nirmala Sitharaman, the Union Finance Minister of India, spoke at the India Today Conclave South regarding crypto currency. the Finance Minister said that the Government is not shutting all windows for cryptocurrencies, or blockchain, and fintech as yet. She said, “My view on this is that, of course, the Supreme Court has commented on cryptocurrency and while the RBI may take a call on official cryptocurrency, from our side, we are very clear that we are not shutting off all options.”
