India Bitcoin and Crypto Ban Seems Likely After Latest Inter-Government Communication

Published on Unknown by Cryptovest Staff

Just days after a bill has been proposed to limit all cryptocurrency activity in India, a new government communication note between ministries surfaced, strengthening the case for the ban.

Indiamay be moving faster to a complete crypto ban, after a newinter-ministerial notesurfaced, suggesting a readiness to impose prison time penalties for anyone handling digital assets.

A specially appointed Inter-Ministerial Committee, convened first in 2017, has come up with a report that is now presented to the Indian Government for review. Along with the report, an earlier bill also circulated, pointing to harsh penalties for handling digital assets.

The aim to ban crypto assets in India has worried the entire crypto community, since the intentions of the proposed bill were repeated in the new report to the government. While there is no deadline to turn the bill into a law, there is talk this could be possible until the end of the year.

https://twitter.com/iammanojpandey/status/1153527796011941889

India has boosted the acceptance of digital assets in the past years, as a grass-roots movement open to young traders. But handling digital assets in India also had a darker side, since the country became a hotbed of scams. Some of the leaders of theBitConnectscheme resided in India and used their influence to reach more backers, affecting thousands of buyers of the now-worthless BCC tokens. The country has also seenarrestsfor similar Ponzi schemes.

India has also pre-empted the launch of Facebook’s Libra in the country, and the Calibra wallet will not be available to Indian residents, even before any Libra have been minted.

Crypto assets and Bitcoin have been banned in many countries, but so far, there are no jail terms proposed for handling coins or tokens. Crypto assets are usually regulated under existing financial standards for fraud, and the India bill will be one of the first specifically targeting sanctions for any activity related to digital assets, including mining.