Cabinet note suggests India will regulate rather than ban cryptocurrencies

Cabinet note suggests India will regulate rather than ban cryptocurrencies. According to reports from local media, the Indian government will not introduce a complete ban on cryptocurrencies, but rather regulate the sector.

23 reported that the Indian government is considering a bill that will propose the creation of an official digital currency while banning all cryptocurrencies.

The news sparked panic selling on the local crypto exchange WazirX the next day, and vague wording on the bill and a lack of understanding by the government left many viewers at odds on the prospects for cryptocurrencies in India.

But Indian news agency NDTV reported on Dec. 2 that it had received details of a cabinet notice circulating within the government regarding the proposed cryptocurrency bill.

NDTV reporter Sunil Prabhu says the note includes proposals to regulate cryptocurrencies as crypto assets, with the Securities and Exchange Commission of India (SEBI) overseeing the regulation of the currency exchange of local electronics.

According to Prabhu, investors will be given a certain deadline to declare their crypto holdings and will have to transfer them to SEBI-regulated exchanges, suggesting that private wallets may be banned. This is part of the government’s efforts to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing.

Prabhu also said the government will bring the Central Digital Currency (CBDC) plan to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) while focusing on the cryptocurrency sector.

It will not allow crypto assets to be recognized as legal tender or currency, which indicates that it aims to make a clear distinction between the two:

“[Cryptocurrency] legal tender will not be accepted. That’s a resounding no. I think even the Prime Minister made that absolutely clear in his discussion at this meeting to make sure that doesn’t happen. “

“I think you can do it [CBDC] as an independent virtual currency for the RBI at a later point in time, so you can certainly expect a virtual currency soon, but at a different point in time, ”he added.

Related: WazirX, Presearch and Komodo rally after data shows surge in user activity

NDTV’s reports have been welcomed by some Indian crypto investors. Redditor “ultron290196” posted on the r / cryptocurrency subreddit expressed relief that it may no longer have to worry about total bans.

“It seems that our crypto movement in India is being noticed by the government and they have finally decided to regulate cryptocurrencies as ‘crypto assets’ rather than legal tender. France. […] All in all, it was a sigh of relief for us Indians. I’d rather pay some taxes than be an outcast, ”they said.

Not everyone is satisfied with the details in the article “No-Incident-8718”, “This is background information. Do not use hardware wallets, but exchange wallets. Also only use Indian exchanges ”.