Last Updated on 22/05/2021 by TheDigitalHacker
Image courtesy: Indiatoday
Cryptocurrency might not be completely banned in India, according to a survey, as the government is expected to form a group of experts to research the possibilities of controlling it. Originally, the government planned to introduce legislation to outlaw all forms of decentralized cryptocurrency throughout the nation.
Several cryptocurrency exchanges in the country have asked the government to control virtual currencies rather than outright prohibiting them. In the recent past, the government has even hinted that a full moratorium on cryptocurrency would not be implemented. According to the paper, the new development comes at a time when many believe that the committee led by former finance secretary Subhash Garg’s proposals for a blanket ban on these in 2019 have been out of date.
The new committee will most likely investigate whether the use of blockchain can be leveraged for technical innovation, as well as propose ways to control cryptocurrencies as digital assets. The committee may also be asked to look at ways to make the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) planned digital rupee a reality. However, these discussions are only in their initial stages, and no formal consensus has been reached.
According to the report, the government is currently looking at the scale of increasing cryptocurrency trading in the country and speaking with stakeholders to further understand supervisory threats. As the scale of virtual coin exchange in India expands, a team is expected to brief Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman later this month on ongoing developments in the cryptocurrency space.
It should be observed that Nirmala Sitharaman previously stated that the government does not want to outright block cryptocurrencies. The government planned to enact the Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill 2021 during the Parliament’s Budget Session in March. It was, however, postponed. The bill could be introduced during the upcoming monsoon session.
The initial bill was supposed to make trading and owning cryptocurrency assets illegal. However, it was met with opposition from the country’s rising population of cryptocurrency traders.A council of experts will most likely investigate the issue and determine whether regulating cryptocurrencies is a better option than a complete ban. Though the bill is anticipate to be amended, it is unclear how the government intends to control cryptocurrency trading in the nation.