India is reportedly moving forward with a radical ban on cryptocurrencies. According Reuters, the country’s legislature will introduce a bill that criminalizes cryptocurrency trading, mining, issuing, transferring or possessing. The bill is likely to pass if it is submitted, giving India some of the most stringent digital currency laws in the world.
According to the plan, people who own these digital assets would have six months to settle their stakes. Reuters’ The source, a government official, did not specify the punishment for breaking the rules after that. But a 2019 government panel recommended a prison sentence of up to 10 years for cryptocurrency-related crimes. The official said that the discussions are in their “final stages”, although there is no rigid timetable for the presentation of the project.
The Indian government outlined its plans in January, when it published an agenda for the next legislative session. That agenda included a ban on “all private cryptocurrencies” in India, with a few exceptions to promote the general use of blockchain technology. The goal is to launch an official digital currency issued by the government and, at the same time, ban private alternatives like Bitcoin – which reached a record earlier this month, trading at $ 59,755.
No other major country has implemented this type of ban on cryptocurrencies. China, which has some of the most stringent policies, prohibits currency trading, but does not prohibit its ownership.
The ongoing proposal follows a years-long struggle between cryptocurrency traders and the Indian government. India’s central bank cracked down on Bitcoin in 2018, banning banks from trading in virtual currencies. The Supreme Court overturned the decision in 2020, but it did not necessarily prevent the passage of an even stricter new law – such as the one currently under discussion.