Government Mulls Banning Cryptocurrencies

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New Delhi: The Union government is likely to introduce a bill during Parliament’s budget session which seeks to prohibit all private cryptocurrencies in the country.

The proposal is to set up a framework for creation of an official digital currency to be issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). According to a Parliament bulletin, there will be certain exceptions to promote blockchain, the underlying technology of cryptocurrency, and its uses.

The central bank is looking into the need for a digital version of the fiat currency and how to implement it.

RBI had banned crypto transactions in 2018 following a string of frauds which surfaced after demonetization was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, taking almost 80% of the nation’s currency out of the system.

Cryptocurrency exchanges moved the Supreme Court and earned respite in March 2020.