Jail & Rs 20 Crore Fine for Using Bitcoin
Government has prepared a draft law that will strictly regulate cryptocurrency in India. According to the law ‘Cryptocurrency’ will now be known as ‘Cryptoasset’
The size of crypto assets in India is about ?45,000 crore with about 15 million investors. Earlier there was big news that the government is planning to ban cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, etc. in the winter session of the parliament. This had badly affected the crypto market and it severely crashed. However, instead of banning cryptocurrency, the government has prepared a draft law that will strictly regulate cryptocurrency in India. According to the law Cryptocurrency’ will now be known as "Cryptoasset". This is because crypto will not be recognised as a currency, it will be an asset like an investment for people. Cryptoassets will be regulated by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). The aim of the law is to reduce the risk of loss for people who invest in crypto and to prevent tax evasion and money laundering. If someone breaks these rules then they can be arrested without a warrant and will not be given bail. Individuals and corporations violating government rules on crypto finance will face fines of up to ? 20 crores and a jail term of 1.5 years. A cutoff date will be prescribed for those having these assets to declare it. This law has not been approved yet and discussions are going on.
