According to news from India Today, the Indian government is planning to ban cryptocurrencies. The world’s second-largest country is set to bring the strictest bill on digital currencies. 

Over 7 million crypto investors in India are uncertain about the future of their holding in the country. A senior governmental official told an international news agency that the bill on cryptocurrencies will criminalise mining, issuance, trading, transferring and holding of crypto asset.

Bill, if enacted as a law, will make India the first-ever country to penalise possession of cryptocurrency. This news is causing concerns within crypto circles. Investors in India have more than $1 Billion locked in crypto. People are holding currencies like bitcoin, ether, litecoin and dogecoin etc. Moreover, multiple crypto exchanges are operating in the country.

The government plans to give six-months time to crypto investors for liquidating their holdings. Afterwards, law enforcers will fine holders, miners and traders of cryptocurrencies.

The Indian government has been planning to regulate cryptocurrencies for quite some time. Crypto exchanges in the country started an online campaign on #IndiaWantsBitcoin last month. The agenda was to stop the government from banning crypto.

Uncertainty Looms:

The future of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in India is not clear yet. Despite news of the government set to ban cryptocurrencies with the new bill, Union Finance Minister says that not all windows will be closed. Miss Nirmala Sitharaman 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.”

It seems the government will keep promoting blockchain while banning crypto assets.

Bitcoin fell from $60K on Monday, following the news of the crypto ban in India.