Indians who own crypto coins could soon face fines. Still, if a new law comes through that the Indian government is working on.
The law the Narenda Modi government is working on would impose fines on anyone who trades, mines, or owns crypto coins. That writes news agency Reuters based on government sources.
Three years ago, banks in India were already banned from providing financial services for crypto coins and crypto platforms. That decision by the Indian central bank was overturned by the country’s Supreme Court last year and there has been strong interest in the coins ever since. According to Reuters, some eight million investors in the country now own a hundred billion rupees (about 1.6 billion euros) in investments in crypto coins.
However, the Indian government is strongly opposed to the whole system. The reasons for the ban would include the fear that citizens will lose their savings when prices collapse again. Bitcoin, the most famous of the crypto coins, has risen above $ 60,000 in recent weeks, but has also seen deep lows in recent years.
Under the new law, cryptocurrency owners would have six months to sell their assets, after which there will be fines. India is not the first to ban the new digital currencies, but it is one of the most strict. China, among others, previously introduced limits on the trading and mining of coins such as Ethereum and Bitcoin, but it does allow citizens to own them.
