The colour of money may be green, but its digital avatar is making the Indian government see red. Not that cryptocurrency—which refers to digital tokens stored in secure online ledgers called blockchain and traded electronically between users—have any particular color associated with it yet.
That is unless you count how new legislation might mean Code Red for millions of Indians who own and trade in this digital money. A draft bill scheduled to be tabled in the ongoing session of Parliament aims to ban “all private cryptocurrencies” and bring in a digital version of the rupee.
“Existing laws are inadequate to deal with (cryptocurrencies),” said Anurag Thakur, Union minister of state for finance, in Parliament on February 9. “The bill is being finalised and would be sent to the cabinet soon.”
Reports suggest that the government is in a hurry, and may take the ordinance route to push the law into effect. India’s financial space is keenly awaiting the final draft of the bill and the exact definition of the ‘private cryptocurrency’ that it proposes to ban. “The proposed cryptocurrency bill has created more questions than answers,” said Arjun Vijay, co-founder and COO of Giottus Cryptocurrency Exchange. The fear and uncertainty had created panic and valuation flux in the exchanges earlier this month.
“It is unclear what private cryptocurrency is, and it is an incorrect term,” said Nischal Shetty, CEO of WazirX, a crypto exchange. “Bitcoin and ethereum are public crypto built on public blockchains. Moreover, it is a myth that the Reserve Bank creating its own digital currency removes the need for other cryptocurrencies.”
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة February 28, 2021 من THE WEEK.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة February 28, 2021 من THE WEEK.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
Trump And The Crisis Of Liberalism
Although Donald Trump's election to a non-consecutive second term to the US presidency is not unprecedented—Grover Cleveland had done it in 1893—it is nevertheless a watershed moment.
What Will It Take To Clean Up Delhi Air?
IT IS ASKED, year after year, why Delhi’s air remains unbreathable despite several interventions to reduce pollution.
Men eye the woman's purse
A couple of months ago, I chanced upon a young 20-something man at my gym walking out with a women’s sling bag.
When trees hold hands
A filmmaker explores the human-nature connect through the living root bridges
Ms Gee & Gen Z
The vibrant Anuja Chauhan and her daughter Nayantara on the generational gap in romance writing
Vikram Seth-a suitable man
Our golden boy of literature was the star attraction at the recent Shillong Literary Festival in mysterious Meghalaya.
Superman bites the dust
When my granddaughter Kim was about three, I often took her to play in a nearby park.
OLD MAN AND THE SEA
Meet G. Govinda Menon, the 102-year-old engineer who had a key role in surveying the Vizhinjam coast in the 1940s, assessing its potential for an international port
Managing volatility: smarter equity choices in uncertain markets
THE INDIAN STOCK MARKET has delivered a strong 11 per cent CAGR over the past decade, with positive returns for eight straight years.
Investing in actively managed low-volatility portfolios keeps risks at bay
AFTER A ROARING bull market over the past year, equity markets in the recent months have gone into a correction mode as FIIs go on a selling spree. Volatility has risen and investment returns are hurt.
