India’s cryptocurrency investors were caught off-guard and left confused after news broke Friday that the country’s Parliament will be considering a government-backed bill that would ban “private” cryptocurrencies. Given the ruling party controls both houses of Parliament, the bill’s chances of becoming law are good.
The Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill 2021 would prohibit cryptocurrencies in India and provide a framework for creating an official digital currency to be issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The RBI had previously prohibited crypto trading for almost two years before that ban was overturned by the Supreme Court in March 2020.
Industry watchers said the government’s definition of “private” could imply that any digital currency that is not sovereign could be seen as a “private” currency, including bitcoin. It’s unclear which cryptocurrencies would be affected as the bill it allows for certain unspecified…