New Delhi, Nov 24: The Centre has proposed to table a Bill on cryptocurrency in the Winter Session of Parliament that begins on November 29 to facilitate the creation of an official digital currency by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The bill seeks to ban all cryptocurrencies, except a few, and introduce a system to regulate crypto transactions in India. However, following the government’s proposal, the values of major digital currencies dropped significantly, with Bitcoin and Tether losing the most.
The RBI is likely to introduce an official form of cryptocurrency. All private cryptocurrencies, barring a few exceptions, will be banned in India if the bill is passed in its current form.
As news of the ban got out, the values of major cryptocurrencies fell. Bitcoin fell by 18.53%, Tether fell by 18.29% and Ethereum fell by 15.58% on Tuesday. According to CoinDesk, most cryptocurrencies remained in the red on Wednesday as well.
Indian crypto exchanges and industry bodies recently published a joint advertisement, claiming that crypto investments by Indians have crossed Rs 6 lakh crore and the number of investors had grown exponentially to over 10 crores.