Will Bitcoin, Ethereum, Binance Coin, Doge, get the boot from India?

The Centre will table a bill to "prohibit" private cryptocurrencies in the country, with some exceptions, in the upcoming winter session of the Parliament. The Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 202, is among 26 out of the 29 new Bills in the government's legislative agenda for the session.

Apart from the cryptocurrency bill, the government will also introduce a bill for the annulment of the three contested farm laws, as announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week. The enactment of the laws has witnessed massive protests in the last year.

The Lok Sabha bulletin issued late on Tuesday said the bill aims to, "create a facilitative framework for the creation of the official digital currency to be issued by the Reserve Bank of India."

It further said that the bill will, "seek to prohibit all private cryptocurrencies in India with certain exceptions."

It may be noted that the Prime Minister, last week, warned the young investors lured by the cryptocurrencies and said it poses risks to younger generations. PM Modi has also recently held top-level deliberations on the issue.

Earlier, speaking at an event, RBI governor Shaktikanta Das also expressed concerns. “On crypto, we have serious concerns from the point of view of macroeconomic and financial stability. How is the issue having to be dealt with? We have given our detailed suggestions to the government,” Das said.

Additionally, in his annual Vijaydashmi address, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat too said that the government needs to regulate instruments like OTT platforms and Bitcoin.

Last week, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on finance—headed by BJP leader and former minister of state (finance) Jayant Sinha—held a meeting with the stakeholders in the cryptocurrency sector. The common consensus of the meeting was in favour of regulation in the crypto space.

The government will also table the Insolvency and Bankruptcy (second amendment) Bill, 2021, to strengthen and streamline the bankruptcy code.