India is considering a law to ban cryptocurrencies, hitting bitcoin investors hard.
The bill could become one of the world’s most stringent policies to control cryptocurrencies, and any act of holding, issuing, mining, trading or transferring crypto assets will be criminalized, with the heaviest punishable by 10 years in prison. If the legislation does pass, it would be the first of its kind in the world.
Senior Indian government officials told Reuters that India is working on a law to ban cryptocurrencies, hitting bitcoin investors hard, officials said, adding that the proposed law would criminalize the possession, distribution, mining, trading and transfer of crypto assets. But the law would give cryptocurrency holders a six-month liquidation period before severe penalties begin to be imposed.
Officials pointed out that the bill has a great chance of being passed by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party, which has a majority in parliament. But India’s finance ministry did not respond to Reuters’ report.
The country’s finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, stepped in earlier this month to ease the blow, saying India is looking for ways to experiment with cryptocurrencies in the digital world and will not completely ban them. ban.
Bitcoin, currently the world’s largest cryptocurrency, hit an all-Time high of $60,000 recently, backed by prominent figures such as tesla CEO Elon Musk. In India, although officials have had to threaten to implement a ban, trading volumes are still increasing, with local media reporting that 8 million Indian investors currently hold 100 billion rupees (about $1.4 billion) in cryptocurrency investments, but no official data is available.
Long before everyone went bitcoin crazy, India had already begun to increase its crackdown on cryptocurrencies, with a government panel in 2019 recommending prison sentences of up to 10 years for those who mine, generate, hold, sell, transfer, dispose of, issue or trade in cryptocurrencies; while officials declined to say whether the new bill includes jail terms and fines, the penalties are not expected to be light.
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