India’s Crypto Bill Ready for Cabinet, Says Finance Minister

India is crawling closer to regulating cryptocurrencies within its borders. The country’s Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, shared that India’s crypto bill is ready. At the same time, the government has taken inputs from industry stakeholders to prepare the document.

“We have done a lot of work on it. We have taken stakeholders’ inputs. The Cabinet note is ready. We have to see when the Cabinet can take it up and consider it so that then we can move it,” she said in her interview.”

Moreover, the new laws to regulate cryptocurrencies in India could be up for debate during the next session of the Parliament, which estimates to kick off on July 19.

Originally, the bill was listed for introduction in the Budget session of the Parliament. Usually, the budget session takes place from February to March but this year, it got delayed due to COVID-19.

The bill is entitled Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill 2021. Notably, the purpose of the bill is to pitch for a ban on all private cryptocurrencies. At the same time, layout the framework for a central bank digital currency (CBDC) — or a digital version of the rupees.

As a result, crypto exchanges in India had to end taking rupees deposits from users. Some banks had also sent out warnings to users who had dealt with crypto exchanges. In comparison, many exchanges have found workarounds. However, there’s still confusion on how Indians will trade in crypto in the future.