Alleged Draft Of India’s Bitcoin Ban Leaked Online

The rumours of India proposing to ban cryptocurrency have been floating around the space for a while now and they may have just been confirmed after the Indian blockchain lawyer Varun Sethi posted an alleged first draft of the proposed bill. 

The bill, called “Banning of Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currencies” proposes to ban or heavily restrict all cryptocurrency-related activity in the nation and a draft of the bill has apparently been leaked. 

You can check out the alleged draft of the bill here.

Crypto Crosshairs

Whether this draft is real or not, it seems that India has crypto in its crosshairs for foreseeable future. 

According to a report from the Economic Times in April 2019 mentioned that the bill had already been examined by a committee of representatives from the Department of Economic Affairs, Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Central Board of Direct Taxes, as well as other regulatory entities.

As reported by the recently revived CCN, “the committee held the view that there has already been an unnecessary delay in taking action against cryptocurrency. This bill if passed will make all crypto related activities including mining and trading illegal in the country, with offenders risking jail time of up to 10 years.”

A part of the report reads:

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

With already strict crypto regulations in place, this isn’t the first time that the government will be blamed for planning to rid crypto and digital assets completely.

The only positive thing about the bill seems to be that the government is hoping to bring in its own stablecoin. The draft doesn’t ban the use of distributed ledger tech and blockchain either but only if it is used for educational purposes. 

If India does go ahead to ban cryptocurrencies it will be a big loss for the market. Unfortunately, there won’t be much that the community could do either. Hopefully, India’s government will turn down the bill but who knows what the future holds.