Most probably you don’t know that holding, selling, or buying cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin in India could lead to up to 10 years in prison!

The draft ‘Prohibition and Regulation of Cryptocurrencies Official Digital Currency Bill back in 2019’, which proposed ten years in prison for anyone involved in mining, generating, holding, selling, transferring, destroying, issuing, and dealing in cryptocurrencies.

What the heck?

But now they are planning on making it illegal, an absolute screwing. If the bill passed, it will make the possession of cryptocurrency a non-bailable offense, which means authorities will consider you as a hardcore criminal.

We all know cryptocurrency is a digital or virtual currency that uses cryptography for security and it’s based on blockchain technology. And Bitcoin is the most popular cryptocurrency of them all, followed by Ethereum and thousands more.

The ban on cryptocurrencies recommended by various government bodies, such as the Income Tax Department and the Central Indirect Taxes Customs Department (CBIC) as they considered it a tool of misuse of funds for money laundering.

The government of India will bring its own digital currency

Economic affairs departments are working on a draft bill to ban cryptocurrencies for some time now but probably Pandemic has delayed the process. While the government is preparing to ban cryptocurrencies soon, preparations are also underway to launch India’s own digital currency. An official said that the decision to launch Digital INR will come after consulting the Reserve Bank of India.

A government bill on cryptocurrency in 2019 reportedly sought to ban cryptocurrency and criminalize its use in India. However, not introduced in Parliament then but most likely coming in the next session of parliament.

The government of India and The Reserve Bank of India had mentioned earlier the digital currency in a booklet on January 25th this year and also said that they will study its advantages and disadvantages before introducing it.

The bill listed by the government to ban cryptocurrencies also provides for the creation of a legislative framework on official digital currency. Now the question is, will the government-owned digital currency bring the same thrill or motivate Indian investors, or will it bring any foreign investment in Indian cryptocurrency?