Addressing the issue directly, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman refuted all such claims of making Bitcoin a currency for circulation. During her address, the Finance Minister made it clear that the government does not have any proposal or plan to identify Bitcoin as a currency.
Finance Minister’s recent stance on Cryptocurrency has raised concerns in circles of Indian bitcoin investors thereby leading to speculations and worry. While replying to the bitcoin question raised in Lok Sabha she said that the government is no means collecting data of the bitcoin transactions. Further, when she was asked whether the government currently has any proposal to identify bitcoin as a currency in India, she replies – “No Sir”.
The recent development comes in line with the government’s decision to introduce the Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill 2021 in the ongoing winter session of the parliament that started off on Monday. The mentioned Bill proposes to ban all private cryptocurrencies with an exception of a few cryptos with a reason to promote emerging technologies.
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The Bill also seeks to introduce an official digital currency regulated by the Reserve bank of India. With such direct statements from the Finance Minister, the government’s stand on bitcoin and the overall cryptocurrency market has been made clear.
A strong response from the government regarding private cryptocurrencies signals that there will be a tough decision and course taken by the government in the coming times.
While responding to the question regarding the legality of cryptocurrency trading in India asked by MP Thirumaavalavan Thol, Pankaj Chaudhary, Minister of State (MoS) in the Ministry of Finance, replied – Private cryptocurrency trading in India is unregulated along with referring to the RBI circular dated May 31st, 2021 that advises its regulated entities to carry out customer due diligence processes that comply government standards during Know your customer (KYC), Anti-Money Laundering (AML), CFT, PMLA 2002, etc including compliance with relevant sections of Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) for securely transacting foreign remittances.
It is very important to note that bitcoin is not tied to any government or bank. Bitcoin also allows its users to spend them anonymously raising security concerns. The government’s recent stance can be considered as decisive and prudent and that the government is committed to ensure secured transactions.
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