The Bill, ‘Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency’ Bill, has sought to put a ban on the private digital tokens barring a few and introduce the Central Bank Digital Currency of the Reserve Bank of India instead.
Cryptocurrency prices in the Indian market declined up to 20 per cent on Wednesday as investors in a panic mode began selling their assets.
A similar knee-jerk reaction was seen in January, when the contents of the bill were disclosed,” WazirX CEO Nischal Shetty was quoted as saying by Times of India.
A bill to ban all private cryptocurrencies in India, with a few expectations to promote blockchain technology will be introduced in the upcoming winter session of the Parliament, the government said.
“To create a facilitative framework for creation of the official digital currency to be issued by the Reserve Bank of India,” it added.
Investors should wait for a government statement on this matter and not rely on secondary sources of information,” said Ashish Singhal, founder and CEO of CoinSwitch Kuber.
The government is concerned about the underground transactions happening against cryptocurrency — particularly its role in ‘hawala’ and terror funding,” sources told CNN-News18 on Wednesday.