Cryptos Not For India

GoI should ban cryptocurrencies without exceptions. Blockchain technology can be explored anyway

- Usha Thorat

Cryptocurrencies have caught the Indian public, especially the young, by storm. The pace of activity in the cryptomarket has been exponential – numbers that are being quoted are astounding and vary so much that one is not even sure of the rough number of Indians and the amounts involved. One in every 10 Indians? Anxious not to miss the bus, each day more and more people seem to be getting into it.

A high-powered inter-ministerial committee (Garg committee) studied the cryptocurrency in all its ramifications in 2019. It came out with an excellent report and proposed a draft bill banning all private virtual cryptocurrencies. GoI was ready to introduce the bill in Parliament this year.

It is now understood that a new bill will be introduced in the forthcoming session. The stated aim is: “To 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.”