The Minister of State in the Indian government’s Ministry of Finance recently said that the cryptocurrency bill is being assessed by the Cabinet before it is finally raised in the Parliament’s winter session.
In his statement, the Minister said that holders, traders, and users of virtual currencies had been cautioned about the risks thrice in the last decade by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). He added that the greater risk posed by virtual currencies to the Indian and global economies has also been raised by the RBI on several occasions.
The Indian crypto market and its players have called on the government to take a middle path. However, the Narendra Modi-led government has highlighted the importance of regulations to curb illegal activities such as money laundering and terror financing.
If the bill is passed, it will ban all private cryptocurrencies in the country from being used as alternatives to real money. There has been a lot of debate surrounding what the government’s definition of ‘private’ is. Eventually, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is set to develop a central bank digital currency (CBDC), which will work within the established financial framework.
However, India has been quite the contributor to the skyrocketing growth of the crypto industry in recent years. The cryptocurrency boom has created thousands of jobs in a country that’s come under scrutiny in recent times for its unemployment statistics. Crypto advocates are hoping that the final bill tabled in the Parliament will grant some space to the crypto sector to keep operating within the regulations of law.
