Those who mine, trade or own cryptocurrency in India are currently on the edge of their seats, as rumors keep swirling around a draft regulation called the Banning Cryptocurrencies and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill 2019. As its ominous title indicates, the bill allegedly calls for harsh penalties of up to 10 years in jail for those who deal in crypto, clearly intending to rid the country of digital tokens. However, whether the bill will become a law or not remains inconclusive, even after attempts of one of India’s premier blockchain lawyers to discover the truth.
April’s unveiling of a promising regulatory sandbox for blockchain by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) contained the first hints of a crypto ban, with the rules making no mention of crypto in a thoroughly tight-lipped manner. This prompted lobbyists to call for the bank’s reconsideration, and likely fanned the flames of rumors about stricter measures inbound. These embers caught fire around the same time, when local publication TheEconomic Times suggested that several government departments had already agreed to the ban and were merely waiting for the correct time to announce it.