Ahead of the much-awaited introduction of the Cryptocurrency regulation bill in India, the Central Government on Monday (December 6, 2021) said in Parliament that it has no plans for boosting the cryptocurrency sector in India. This statement was made by the Union Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance Pankaj Chaudhary in a written reply to a query.
“The Government has no plans for boosting the cryptocurrency sector in India,” Chaudhary said.
Responding to another query on how trustable the cryptocurrency is and whether it is possible for the Government to regulate the market, Chaudhary said: “Currently, cryptocurrencies are unregulated in India. The Government does not collect data on the cryptocurrency sector. A Bill on Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency has been included for introduction in the Lok Sabha Bulletin- Part II as part of the Government Business expected to be taken up during the Seventh Session of Seventeenth Lok Sabha, 2021.”
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The Government has said many times in the Parliament that it does not collect data on crypto exchanges operating in India. On Monday, it also said that the Government does not collect data on the details and number of people presently using/trading/investing in Bitcoins along with the money invested.”
The Government is expected to introduce the Cryptocurrency Bill in Parliament after it gets the Cabinet approval.
Meanwhile, RBI is also planning to introduce a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).
“Introduction of CBDC has the potential to provide significant benefits such as reduced dependency on cash, higher seigniorage due to lower transaction costs, reduced settlement risk. Introduction of CBDC would also possibly lead to a more robust, efficient, trusted, regulated and legal tender-based payments option. There are also associated risks which need to be carefully evaluated against the potential benefits,” Chaudhary said in reply to another query in the Lok Sabha.
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“As CBDC is backed by the Central Bank of a country, apart from other benefits, it will not have volatility which is normally associated with the private cryptocurrencies,” he added.