Govt will not ban but regulate all private cryptocurrencies: Report

According to an NDTV report, the suggestions have been made in a Cabinet note circulated by the government on the proposed cryptocurrency bill.

Further, the legislation describes Cryptocurrency as cryptoasset and will be dealt with the existing crypto exchange platforms which will be regulated by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), according to the note.

The government will set a date by which those having cryptoassets should declare the same and bring under the SEBI-regulated crypto exchange platforms.

According to the report, the proposed virtual currency by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has not been clubbed with the new crypto bill.

However, RBI will regulate matters related to cryptocurrency.

Any violations of the exchange provisions will attract criminal imprisonment of upto one and a half years and penalties in the range of Rs 5 crore to Rs 20 crore may also be levied by the regulator.

The Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) with suitable amendments will be applied on those found using these assets for terror-related activities.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said earlier this week that the risk of cryptocurrency going in the wrong hands is being monitored.

However, there has been no decision to stop advertisements of digital currencies, she said, adding that the government has no plans to recognise Bitcoin as a currency in India.

In October, the RBI had introduced the proposal of Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). CBDCs - digital or virtual currency - are the digital version of fiat currencies, for instance, rupee in India.

The RBI had proposed to include digital currency under the definition of a 'bank note', the government had said.