Following a draft proposed in January, India is moving forward with its plan to ban all private cryptocurrencies. The proposition was introduced as a means to create their own digital currency that is regulated by the Reserve Bank of India, and forms part of the Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill that will be brought into effect this winter.
Despite the bill circulating since early this year, some had begun to hope that India would ease-up on their disapproval towards the popular digital assets, but it appears that will not be the case.
The bill is designed to, in the government’s words, “create a facilitative framework for creation of the official digital currency to be issued by the Reserve Bank of India.”
“The Bill also seeks to prohibit all private cryptocurrencies in India, however, it allows for certain exceptions to promote the underlying technology of cryptocurrency and its uses.”
As a result, crypto markets in India have suffered a significant drop, with Bitcoin dropping 13 percent on the Indian crypto exchange WazirX, reports the BBC. Under the bill, it is likely that people will still be able to trade crypto, but only from specified exchanges that adhere to governmental regulations, including some that seek to protect investors.
India will now join a handful of other countries to place bans or serious regulations on crypto, including China, Russia, and Nepal. Many of these have sought to replace them with their own digital currency, such as the Chinese centrally-regulated Digital Renminbi (RMB), with limited success.
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