The government will soon introduce a bill on cryptocurrency after the Cabinet’s approval, said Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday. “This is a risky area and not in a complete regulatory framework. No decision was taken on banning its advertisements. Steps are taken to create awareness through RBI and SEBI. The government will soon introduce a Bill once the Cabinet clears it,” Sitharaman replied during Question Hour in Rajya Sabha when Bihar’s BJP MP Sushil Kumar Modi asked if the government is planning to ban “misleading advertisements” till a bill comes up. The BJP leader said, “Last time also it was mentioned in the bulletin but the bill on cryptocurrency could not come into the house.”
The ‘Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021’ is among 26 new bills on the agenda of the government for the winter session of the Parliament.
The Bill seeks to “create a facilitative framework for the creation of the official digital currency to be issued by the RBI”. It also seeks to prohibit all private cryptocurrencies in India, however, it allows for certain exceptions to promote the underlying technology of cryptocurrency and its uses. “There were other dimensions and the previous Bill had to be reworked upon and now we are trying to work on a new Bill,” the Finance Minister said.