India may ban bitcoin and introduce its own cryptocurrency

The Indian government plans to submit to the lower house of the country's parliament for consideration a bill that prohibits the circulation of private cryptocurrencies in the country, such as bitcoin. The agenda, published on the lower house website, states that the Cryptocurrency and Official Digital Currency Regulation Bill aims "to create an enabling environment for the development of an official digital currency to be issued by the Reserve Bank of India."

In addition, it is reported that "the bill also aims to ban all private cryptocurrencies in India, but it allows certain exceptions to promote the underlying technology of the cryptocurrency (blockchain) and its use."

This is not the first time Indian lawmakers have taken such a tough stance on cryptocurrencies. In 2018, an Indian government group recommended that all private cryptocurrencies be banned and punished for breaking the ban - up to 10 years in prison.

In the same year, Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley stated: "The government does not recognize cryptocurrency as legal tender or coin and will take all measures to stop the use of these crypto-assets to fund illegal activities or as part of a payment system."

India's monetary policy regulator temporarily banned cryptocurrency transactions after a series of fraudulent activities in 2018, but in March 2020 the ban was overturned by the Indian Supreme Court after several exchanges and traders challenged it in court.