The government is predicted to take up the latest Indian crypto bill in our country soon, asserted Nirmala Sitaram, the Finance Minister of India. A report was submitted by the inter-ministerial panel which was led by former finance secretary Subhash Chandra Garg seeking a ban on the private digital currencies and authorizing a digital currency that will be issued by the RBI (Reserve Bank of India). Cryptocurrency meaning a digital form of currency that is different from our fiat currencies. Nothing is physical in digital currencies, it is completely operated digitally.
According to a report, on Monday, Sitharaman said,
“Cabinet note is ready on cryptocurrency bill. I am waiting for the Cabinet to clear that.”
Undoubtedly any discussion around digital currency brings rays of hope for industry veterans and crypto enthusiasts. According to the COO of WazirX, Siddhart Menon,
“We are pleased to see that the government is pressing for crypto legislation. Emerging technologies such as blockchain and cryptocurrency, as well as AI and machine learning, hold the key to future economic prosperity.”
Bitcoin which is the biggest digital currency in respect to market capitalization has soared around 50% from its low previous month. Around this time of last month, the Bitcoin price has gone below the mark of $30,000. According to the coinmarketcap data, Bitcoin leads the market with a 43.38% share which is followed by Ethereum that holds a market share of 18.81%. In the last one month, Ethereum has seen an increase of more than 60%.
At the beginning of August, the finance ministry of India has asserted that,
“The government would take a decision on the recommendations of the IMC and the legislative proposal, if any, would be introduced in Parliament following the due process.”
The bill that was proposed narrowly missed out on being placed during the Parliament’s Monsoon Session. The primary aim of this Indian crypto bill is to build an official cryptocurrency that will be issued by the Reserve Bank of India. This cryptocurrency bill, 2021, India, seeks to stop the usage of all private digital currencies in India.
What Is This Indian Crypto Bill?
Now you may wonder, is cryptocurrency in India legal? As of now, Indians can trade private crypto, but according to a recent announcement made by the finance minister of India, there is a new Indian crypto bill. Let us look into further details of this bill. Well, no one actually knows exactly what the bill talks about. COO of WazirX says,
“We are yet to know more about the final contents of the bill submitted and how it would impact the Indian crypto community and businesses.”
Even after that, he is confident about the fact that more discussion, evaluation, and regulation on digital currency would ultimately result in the friction of more opportunities for growth for a rising tech savvy population in the country.
There has been a lot of confusion around crypto due to the conflicting statements that were made by the government all this time. The RBI Governor, Shaktikanta Das in February said that there are reservations of the central bank for digital currencies and that they are working on the creation of their own digital currency. Around the same time, the finance minister of India in Rajya Sabha said that a high level committee that was formed to evaluate the issues that are related to virtual currencies has suggested that all private digital currencies, except those that are issued by the state, should not be permitted.
One month later she said,
“A lot of negotiations and discussions are happening around cryptocurrency with the RBI, which will take a call on what kind of unofficial cryptocurrency will have to be planned and how it is to be regulated. We want to make sure there is a window available for all kinds of experiments which will have to take place in the crypto world.”
Even though the government had earlier amended the “Companies Act” to enable direct listing of Indian companies of foreign exchanges, it has not yet undertaken an important amendment that is related to the capital gains tax on all these shares. Addressing that internal “homework” had been done, the finance minister said,
“India itself is becoming a haven for raising money and a lot of companies are raising money here and some of it is big ticket raising funds.”
In the present week, the surge in liquidity has resulted in a thrust of IPOs with few problems that include the mega LIC issue lined up for later in 2021 to meet the distinctive target offered by the government of Rs 1.75 lakh crore.
Conclusion
After several complications and conflicts on the position of digital currencies in India, the finance minister on Monday announced that there is a new Indian crypto bill that will soon be brought into action. But as of now, there is no information about what the new bill tells us about private crypto’s position in India. Here was the cryptocurrency news today in India.
