Government might lift up the ban on crypto-currency

Government might lift up the ban on crypto-currency

New Delhi: Ever since the crypto-currency, especially Bitcoin, made its entry in India, there have been lots of stir-ups regarding them. Earlier, this year Arun Jaitley, Finance Minister (who is on sick leave as of now), said that Bitcoin is not a legal tender in India.

Even the Reserve Bank of India has cautioned the users of virtual currencies, in the past, in terms of dealing in crypto-currency. It alerted them to the potential economic and financial risks associated with them.

Though, despite all this, it seems there is some news for all the crypto-currency enthusiasts. According to reports in media, the government panel is not in favour of banning the virtual currency; rather it might suggest allowing it with riders.

This information was revealed by ETNow, where the media house quoted Cogencis. The tweet of ETNow read: SOURCES | Govt panel not in favour of banning cryptocurrency. Govt panel may suggest allowing cryptocurrency with riders: COGENCIS

Notably, banks, e-wallets and payment gateways were asked to withdraw support for crypto-currency exchanges and other businesses dealing with virtual currencies in India by RBI through its notice ‘Prohibition on dealing in Virtual Currencies’. The central bank had taken the ban on crypto-currencies without any investigation and research. This was also revealed through an RTI, filed by Varun Sethi, where it was asked that whether RBI has constituted any committee to determine the risk associated with trading in virtual currency and the answer to this was NO.

The decision of RBI was challenged by the crypto enthusiasts in Supreme Court on the basis of no proper consultation and no reasonable ground to ban any business; several online petitions were which caught the eyes of Supreme Court of India and some cases have also been filed against the central bank. The hearing of the case is scheduled to be on July 20.

It should be noted that bitcoin was trading at a two-month low a couple of days back, which went up a bit today. Interestingly, the most popular crypto-currency went up to 1,300 per cent last year but this year till now it has been down by around 53 per cent.