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India to ban cryptocurrencies and fine miners, traders, investors: government official
- The bill would give holders of private virtual currencies such as bitcoin up to six months to liquidate, after which penalties would be levied
- It would make India the first major economy to ban cryptocurrencies. Even China, which has banned mining and trading, does not penalise possession
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Reutersin New Delhi/Mumbai
India is set to propose a law banning cryptocurrencies, fining anyone trading in the country or even holding such digital assets, in a potential blow to millions of investors piling into the red-hot asset class.
The bill, one of the world’s strictest policies against cryptocurrencies, would criminalise possession, issuance, mining, trading and transferring cryptoassets, said a senior government official who has direct knowledge of the plan.
The measure is in line with a January government agenda that called for banning private virtual currencies such as bitcoin while building a framework for an official digital currency. But recent government comments had raised investors’ hopes that the authorities might go easier on the booming market.
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Instead, the bill would give holders of cryptocurrencies up to six months to liquidate, after which penalties will be levied, said the official, who asked not to be named as the contents of the bill are not public.
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Officials are confident of getting the bill enacted into law as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government holds a comfortable majority in parliament.
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