Bitcoin Ban Blues? India Reportedly Weighs Draconian Law to Ban Cryptocurrency
By CCN.com: The Indian government is working on a draft bill that would impose an outright ban on cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, as reported by The Economic Times, in what would be the final blow to the future of crypto in the country.
The government is all set to ban cryptocurrencies
The publication reports that a draft of the “Banning of Cryptocurrencies and Regulation of Official Digital Currencies Bill 2019″ is currently bouncing between different government departments, all of whom are toeing the government’s line.
The “Banning of Cryptocurrencies and Regulation of Official Digital Currencies Bill 2019″ draft has been circulated to relevant government departments, a government official aware of details told ET.
India’s Department of Economic Affairs, the taxation board, and the Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority think that the “sale, purchase and issuance of all types of cryptocurrency” should be banned entirely, according to anonymous government sources.
The Indian government had created a panel chaired by the finance secretary last year for drafting cryptocurrency regulations. The latest reports indicate that the panel is hell-bent on killing cryptocurrencies in India. This looks like a real possibility right now as the bill could be drafted into law once the ongoing general elections in India are over.
Indian regulators consistently fail to understand cryptocurrencies
The Indian government has always tried to throttle the growth of cryptocurrency under the false belief that the likes of bitcoin are instruments meant for laundering money.
Also, the rapid rise in the price of bitcoin has led regulators in India to believe that cryptocurrencies are nothing more than get-rich-quick schemes for defrauding gullible investors. The Economic Times report says:
