India will continue its original position of banning private cryptocurrencies in the country.
Specifically placed under the proposed Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, the ban seeks to “create a facilitative framework for the creation of the official digital currency to be issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).”
Months ago, the government set out its position on cryptocurrencies, and while many thought the government would soften its stance on the proposed ban, nothing seems to have changed or have changed in the near future.
Attempting to interpret the bill, a local newspaper, India Today, stated that there will be no blanket ban on trading in cryptocurrencies as long as users operate exchanges that meet certain criteria.
There is further speculation that the move is mainly influenced by the Reserve Bank of India’s conservative views on cryptocurrency.
The planned move led to a steep fall in cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin dropped more than 13% on Indian exchange sites, WazirX and both Shiba Inu and Dogecoin dropped more than 15%.