by Rushali 
On Jan 25th RBI has issued a booklet in which they said that they are planning to launch their digital currency.
The budget will be released on Feb 1 and before that, the legislative order of business for the budget session of 17th Lok Sabha commenced today, in that the Indian Government has issued a bill to ban all types of private cryptocurrency in India. And the bill also provides the legislative framework on an official digital currency.
The RBI booklet read;
“Private digital currencies have gained popularity in recent years, “In India, the regulators and government have been skeptical about these currencies and are apprehensive about the associated risks. Nevertheless, RBI is exploring the possibility as to whether there is a need for a digital version of fiat currency and, in case there is, how to operationalize it,”
Previously the RBI has banned the use of bank channels for payments associated with cryptocurrency in 2018, which was removed by the Supreme Court in March 2020.
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In 2019 also, the Government had a bill on cryptocurrency which reportedly sought to ban cryptocurrency and criminalize its possession in India. But it was not presented in Parliament.
The Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021 said that certain exceptions to the technology and the use of cryptocurrency are allowed.
Last year, we have seen a demand for cryptocurrency in the Indian market, and the Cryptocurrency exchanges such as CoinDCX and Coinswitch Kuber have also raised early-stage funding for their operations. Now, the bill may clear the air in the crypto industry in India.
Sumit Gupta, CEO, CoinDCX had said:
“Globally, cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum are considered public cryptocurrencies because of their open and public nature, where any participants can verify the transactions.
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During the period of Banking Ban (April 2018- March 2020), in official communication from RBI, private was deemed as Bitcoin and other public blockchains. This was the wrong classification. There has been no clear communication, on public and private classification even today in the bill. It must be explicitly covered, Over 7 Million crypto holders in India.
Over $1 Billion+ crypto assets owned by Indians. Will Government ban & erase all that wealth overnight? I don’t think so. The government will involve us, the industry, in further discussions and we’ll present our points,” said Nischal Shetty, CEO, WazirX, a cryptocurrency exchange.
