Crypto Bill unlikely before Parliament: Govt may consider special order

New Delhi, Dec 15: The Cryptocurrency Bill may not come up before the Parliament session and more changes are likely to be made.

The government may consider a special order after the session, NDTV reported. The Centre is looking to make the Crypto regulations to be in tandem with the global framework.

The Bill proposes to establish a framework for distributed ledger technology and also lay the groundwork for the creation of the official Digital currency that is to be issued by the Reserve Bank of India.

Highlights of the Bill

• The draft Bill seeks to prohibit mining, holding, selling, trade, issuance, disposal or use of cryptocurrency in the country. Cryptocurrency is defined as any information, code, or token which has a digital representation of value and has utility in a business activity, or acts as a store of value, or a unit of account.
• Under the draft Bill, mining, holding, selling, issuing, transferring or use of cryptocurrency is punishable with a fine or imprisonment of up to 10 years, or both.
• A person must declare and dispose of any cryptocurrency in his possession, within 90 days from the commencement of the Act.
• The draft Bill permits the use of processes or technology underlying any cryptocurrency for experiment, research, or teaching.
• The central government, in consultation with the RBI, may issue digital rupee as legal tender. The RBI may also notify a digital currency recognised as legal tender in a foreign jurisdiction, as a foreign currency.