India’s government will introduce a bill to ban private crypto and create a framework for a central bank-backed digital money.
The proposed bill “seeks to prohibit all private crypto in India”, said the Lok Sabha. Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned last week that Bitcoin presents a risk to younger generations and could “spoil our youth” if it ends up “in the wrong hands”.
There’s still so much that’s unknown about the proposal. A cryptically worded description of the bill posted on the Indian parliament website outlined a plan. Plan to “prohibit all private cryptocurrencies in India.” But the bill also says it would allow for “certain exceptions to promote the underlying technology of cryptocurrency and its uses.”
The Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021 “would create a facilitative framework for creation of the official digital currency to be issued by the Reserve Bank of India,” said Lok Sabha in its daily bulletin of upcoming legislation.
According to a government bulletin, the ban is part of the proposed Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill that will be introduced in its winter session. The planned legislation aims “to create a facilitative framework for the creation of the official digital currency to be issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)”.
In an interview with Business Insider, Rahul Pagdipati, CEO of ZebPay highlighted an interesting aspect. “Its (the bill) success will depend on the details, particularly the definition of what the bill calls ‘private cryptocurrencies’. This is not a common term. Bitcoin is not privately owned by anyone. It is a public good, like the internet,” he said.
In a public blockchain, anyone is free to join and participate in the core activities of the blockchain network. On the other hand, a private blockchain allows only selected entry of verified participants.
