Indian Government Plans for Another Blanket Ban on Bitcoin and Cryptocurrencies

The Indian Government is all set to give yet another hammer blow to cryptocurrency enthusiasts from the country. The government is planning for a bill which bans the use of all cryptocurrencies in the country.

As per last week’s report by local news publication Economic Times, the Indian Ministry of Finance has put forward this proposal. The proposal shall be first forwarded to the Union Council of Ministers and later to the parliament for final review.

Quoting a senior government official, the publication wrote: “A note has been moved (by the finance ministry) for inter-ministerial consultations.”

It’s a bad news for the Indian crypto community as it faces yet another challenge ahead after successfully fighting out the previous ban earlier this year. After two long years of crypto ban, in March 2020, India’s highest judicial court - The Supreme Court of India - decided the uplift ban on crypto use implemented by its central bank - The Reserve Bank of India.

This is a major disappointment for the local crypto community who has been kept away forcibly for a long time from crypto usage.

Last year in July 2019, a high-end government panel headed by India’s former finance secretary Subhash Garg had draft a law proposing a blanket ban on cryptocurrencies. The panel also proposed implementing a jail term of 10 years or a major fine of $3.2 million or 25 crore INR.

The draft read: “No person shall mine, generate, hold, sell, deal in, issue, transfer, dispose of or use cryptocurrency in the territory of India.”

The last year’s proposal was little discussed by the government agencies or any government officials. It looks like the Indian government started taking efforts to ban crypto assets only after the Supreme Court gave a go-ahead this year.

This new proposal will put a fresh fear in the Indian crypto community. After the Supreme Court’s verdict of lifting the ban, a number of companies had started looking towards India in establishing their base and offering crypto-based services.

Big names from the crypto space like Binance and OKEx are expanding their foothold in India. Any stern action by the government could cause a repulsive move from this companies.