India’s crypto future remains uncertain.

Crypto remains a heated topic in India as the new bill appears to be delayed again.

Image Source: Upsplash

The bill is listed for the winter session of the Parliament, which will end on Dec. 23. It is unlikely that the bill will pass by that time. Moreover, a similar bill was also listed for earlier sessions this year.

The government is reportedly considering more changes to the proposed bill. Sources also cited needing more time to consult more stakeholders before reaching a decision.

Back in November, it seemed that India would ban all “private crypto”. That means a ban on all crypto that is outside of control by central banks. However, India has since shifted its policy, following criticism from the public.

The move followed a similar decision recently. Last month, the government decided to rework the crypto bill. While speaking to the Parliament, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman tried to explain the policy shift. She explained it by saying that crypto was changing and that the government needed to take that into account.

The earlier attempt was definitely to come up with a Bill that the house can consider. But, later, because rapidly a lot of things had to come into play, we had started working on a new Bill.

In fact, the original draft of the bill came out all the way back in 2019.

Government’s Concerns

Reports also say that India is discussing creating the framework for the central bank digital currency (CBDC). This framework likely includes crypto regulation, and potentially a ban on some cryptos.

Reserve bank of India (RBI) governor Shaktikanta Das also expressed other concerns about crypto.

Cryptocurrencies are a serious concern to RBI from a macroeconomic and financial stability standpoint

As the result, despite all the criticism from investors, the RBI remains in favor of the complete ban on private crypto.

Furthermore, alongside the economic reasons, Indian PM Narendra Modi expressed other concerns with crypto.

At the Summit for Democracy, a virtual summit hosted by the U.S., Modi said that crypto could undermine democracy.

We must also jointly shape global norms for emerging technologies like social media and crypto-currencies, so that they are used to empower democracy, not to undermine it.

Panic, Hacking

Last month, investors panicked over a potential ban. Panic selling made crypto crash, with Bitcoin falling 14,8% on WazirX exchange only a few hours after the news. Ethereum likewise fell by 15% and Tether by almost 18%. The panic selling since subsided.

However, even some insiders later reacted negatively to the harsh bill. This includes former Finance Minister Subhash Garg, the man who authored the original bill back in 2019. However, later he changed his stance on crypto. In July of 2020, he stated the government should permit crypto and treat them as commodities. Last month, Garg made a comment about the announced bill, calling it a mistake. Likewise, he called digital currencies are a “useful tool for humanity”.

Moreover, crypto came into the focus again when hackers took over Narendra Modi’s Twitter account. For a brief period, hackers linked to a potential crypto scam from his account. The post also stated that Bitcoin is becoming legal tender in India.