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India is proposing a strict ban on cryptocurrency.

The Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM), an affiliate of the nationalist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, has reportedly passed a resolut
The Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM), an affiliate of the nationalist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, has reportedly passed a resolution demanding a complete ban on crypto in India.

According to the Reuters report, the proposed bill in India can be one of the world’s strictest actions against crypto and would not only criminalize possession, issuance, mining, trading, and transfer of crypto but also leave a big dent in the crypto market in Asia. The COVID-19 pandemic had pushed people to seek alternative payment routes, and India was among the countries witnessing a growing population of peer-to-peer users.

The bill would only give holders of cryptocurrencies up to six months to liquidate their funds.

The proposed bill, one of the world’s strictest policies against cryptocurrencies, would criminalize possession, issuance, mining, trading, and transferring crypto-assets, said the official, who has direct knowledge of the plan. The anti-crypto measures are in line with a January government agenda that called for banning all cryptocurrencies 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. The bill would give holders of cryptocurrencies up to six months to liquidate, after which penalties will be levied.

Officials are confident of getting the bill enacted into law.

According to the report, officials are confident of getting the bill enacted into law as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government holds a comfortable majority in parliament. If the ban becomes law, India would be the first major economy to make holding cryptocurrency illegal. Even China, which has banned mining and trading, does not penalize possession. However, as reported earlier, Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said that they would not completely block cryptocurrencies and would allow space to experiment with crypto and blockchain in the country.

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