The Indian government is placing a cryptocurrency bill to be considered by lawmakers in the upcoming session of the Parliament.

The legislative agenda for the upcoming winter session of the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the India parliament, shows that a bill titled “The Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill 2021” would be introduced for consideration of the house. The Winter session of the Lok Sabha is scheduled to run from November 29 through December 23. (Bitcoin.com)

It appears that the Indian government intends to subdue the growth of cryptocurrencies in India pending the introduction of the country’s homegrown CBDC (central bank digital currency).

The intent of the Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill 2021 is described as follows:

“To create a facilitative framework for creation of the official digital currency to be issued by the Reserve Bank of India. The bill also seeks to prohibit all private cryptocurrencies in India, however, it allows for certain exceptions to promote the underlying technology of cryptocurrency and its uses.”

Unfortunately, the description leaves a lot of room for confusion. First off, the term “private cryptocurrencies” has not been defined, and if the ambit of the term is not clear, it is difficult to guess at the “exceptions.”

It is well known that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) views cryptocurrencies with some trepidation. Earlier this year Governor Shaktikanta Das commented: “We have serious, major concerns on cryptocurrency with respect to financial stability, [and] have conveyed the same to government of India.”

Meanwhile, the RBI is already working on a CBDC, a digital rupee so to speak, which is likely to see the light of day in a phased manner.

More details of the Government’s intentions on cryptos would be available when the bill is made public.

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