Cryptocurrency Bill Withheld from Parliament, Reports Citing Sources Say

The government is currently studying the kinds of measures that other nations are considering in terms of regulating the crypto space.

By Radhika Parashar | Updated: 21 December 2021 11:27 IST

Cryptocurrency Bill Withheld from Parliament, Reports Citing Sources Say

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It remains unclear when the bill will finally reach Parliament

Highlights

Crypto standards evolving internationally may influence India’s stance
RBI consulting Bank for International Settlement (BIS) over CBDCs
The government has not set a timeline for regulating cryptocurrency

India's much talked-about Cryptocurrency Bill, which proposes stringent restrictions be imposed in the crypto sector, is not expected to be presented before the Parliament during the winter session after all, according to reports. Citing sources, some reports now say that the government is presently collecting information on how other nations are planning on regulating cryptocurrencies. The development comes a month after this crypto bill was listed on the Parliament's agenda, but was not brought up this session.

“The government wants to see how global standards on cryptocurrencies evolve in the European Union (EU) and other jurisdictions,” a report by CNBC TV18 quoted government sources as saying. The next session, the Budget session, will start sometime in February 2022.

The crypto market was left shaken last month when the Parliamentary agenda included a bill seeking to prohibit all private cryptocurrencies from operating in the country.

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The same agenda also listed that the Indian government is interested in launching a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) to experiment with the underlying blockchain technology of cryptocurrency and its uses.

For now, the government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) are reaching out to the Basel, Switzerland-headquartered Bank for International Settlement (BIS) to understand more about the evolving cryptocurrency framework.

India's much awaited crypto bill which was supposed to reach the Parliamentary table during its winter session was sent to the Cabinet for approval earlier this month. There has been no official word on the bill since.

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The same bill was also listed for the budget session of 2021, but again did not get to the discussion round at the time as well.

A lot has been going around the crypto space in India meanwhile.

Several studies from research firms like Watcher Guru and BrokerChoose have revealed that India has the highest number of crypto investors in the world. The number is around 100 million.

Earlier in December, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also called out for norms that would shape up the crypto space to “empower” democracy and not “undermine” it.

This year, companies related to the crypto sector managed to bag $30 billion (roughly Rs. 2,27,617 crore) in funding and investment from venture capital firms making it the highest collection so far, a report revealed.

In order to help India-based blockchain entrepreneurs, the Telangana government are also bringing a Blockchain Accelerator plan to give some startups the necessary assistance to succeed.

Interested in cryptocurrency? We discuss all things crypto with WazirX CEO Nischal Shetty and WeekendInvesting founder Alok Jain on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

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Further reading: Cryptocurrency, Crypto Bill, India, India Crypto Bill

Radhika Parashar

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Radhika Parashar is a senior correspondent for Gadgets 360. She has been reporting on tech and telecom for the last three years now and will be focussing on writing about all things crypto. Besides this, she is a major sitcom nerd and often replies in Chandler Bing and Michael Scott references. For tips or queries you could reach out to her at RadhikaP@ndtv.com. More