SC allows trading in cryptocurrency, ends 2018 ban imposed by RBI

New Delhi, Mar 04: The Supreme Court on Wednesday struck down the curb on cryptocurrency trade in India. A three-judge bench led by Justice Rohinton Nariman quashed, an earlier ban imposed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on trading in virtual currencies such as Bitcoin.

Cryptocurrencies are digital currencies, in which encryption techniques are used to regulate the generation of the currency units and verify the transfer of funds, operating independently of a central bank.

On April 6, 2018, the central bank had virtually banned cryptocurrency trading in India as in a circular issued , it directed that all entities regulated by it shall not deal in virtual currencies or provide services for facilitating any person or entity in dealing with or settling those.

The ban on cryptocurrencies was aimed at "ring-fencing" the country's financial system from the private virtual currencies, deemed illegal by the government.