New details have emerged suggesting that the Indian government will proceed with the ban on cryptocurrency, in contrast to what the cryptocurrency community believes. In his latest interview on cryptocurrency legislation, India’s finance minister said there will be a window for experimenting with cryptocurrency, blockchain and fintech.
Reports from India banning cryptocurrency
The Indian cryptographic community is closely watching whether the government will ban cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin. A note from the cabinet on cryptocurrency legislation is being finalized and will soon be sent to the cabinet.
The latest information on the ban on Indian cryptography comes from Reuters, which reported on Sunday night that “India will propose a law that bans cryptocurrencies, fining anyone who trades in the country or even holds such digital assets.” The publication cited a senior unidentified government official who claims to have direct knowledge of the plan. He said this project “would criminalize the possession, issuance, mining, trade and transfer of cryptographic assets”.
According to the official:
The bill would give cryptocurrency holders up to six months to settle, after which penalties will be applied.
In addition, officials are confident that the bill will be turned into law, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government holds a comfortable majority in parliament, the publication added.
Crypto Community believes there will be no ban
Many people on social media do not believe that India will continue to ban the cryptocurrency, however, suggesting that the information provided by Reuters is out of date. They believe that finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman has indicated in her recent interviews that cryptocurrency will not be banned.
Over the weekend, the finance minister spoke about bitcoin and cryptocurrency legislation in an interview on India Today. She was asked whether India was entering the zone where it is inevitable that the government will have to realize that cryptocurrencies are here to stay.
The finance minister reiterated that a “cabinet note” on cryptocurrency is “being prepared” and “almost completed”. She confirmed that she will soon be taken to the office.
Noting that the supreme court commented on the cryptocurrency and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will make a call on the official digital rupee, the finance minister said:
For our part, we are sure that we are not closing all options. We will allow a certain amount of window for people to use, so that experiments in blockchain, bitcoin or whatever you want to call it, the cryptocurrency and fintech experiments that depend on such an experiment will have that window available to them.
However, she emphasized that specific rules on cryptocurrencies will be on the cabinet note, which will be “ready soon”.
Earlier this month, Bitcoin.com News reported that the finance minister said: “There will be a very calibrated position taken … We are not closing our minds. We are certainly looking at the ways in which experimentation can take place in the digital world and in cryptocurrency and so on. “
His statements gave hope to the Indian crypto community that India will regulate cryptocurrencies instead of imposing a total ban.
However, according to the latest report from Reuters, the senior official said the plan is to ban private crypto assets while promoting blockchain and fintech technology. He was quoted as saying:
We have no problems with technology. There is no harm in taking advantage of technology.
He clarified that the government’s actions would be “calibrated” to the extent of penalties for those who did not liquidate cryptocurrencies within the grace period of the law.
In the cryptocurrency bill published in 2019, the interministerial committee charged with drafting the bill recommended “imprisonment of up to 10 years for people who exploit, generate, retain, sell, transfer, discard, issue or trade cryptocurrencies,” the publication communicated, adding that the official refused to discuss details in this area.
Meanwhile, Indian crypto traders are taking advantage of the crypto boom, with the price of bitcoin reaching historic levels several times in the past few months. The country’s top cryptocurrency exchanges reported record trading volumes and numbers of new users. “The money is multiplying rapidly each month and you don’t want to sit still,” said a crypto trader named Sumnesh Salodkar, quoted by Reuters. “Even though people are panicking about the potential ban, greed is driving these choices.”
Do you think India will still ban bitcoin? Let us know in the comments section below.
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