India is looking to block most private cryptocurrencies when it introduces a new bill to regulate virtual currencies in the winter session of Parliament, as per government. The government will allow only certain cryptocurrencies to promote the underlying technology and its uses, according to a legislative agenda for the winter session that is set to start later this month.
The Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021, India is also looking to make a framework for the official digital currency that will be issue by the Reserve Bank of India.
The central bank has raise “serious concerns” about private cryptocurrencies and is set to launch its own digital currency by December.
Bitcoin, is hovering around $60,000 (approx. Rs. 44.7 lakh), and its price has more than double since the start of this year, attracting hordes of local investors.
No official data is available but industry estimates suggest there are 15 million to 20 million crypto investors in India, with total crypto holdings of around Rs. 40,000 crore .
Indian government consider criminalising the possession, issuance, mining, trading, and transference of crypto assets, but a bill was not introduce.
From then, the government has change its stance slightly and is now looking to discourage trading in cryptocurrencies by imposing hefty capital gains and other taxes, as per sources.
But a senior government official told that the plan is to ban private crypto assets ultimately while paving the way for a new Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a meeting to discuss the future of cryptocurrencies amid concerns that unregulate crypto markets could become avenues for money laundering and terror financing, as per sources.
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