Is crypto legal or illegal in India? SC asks Centre to clarify its stance
A Bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and Surya Kant asked the Narendra Modi-led government to make its position clear on legality of cryptos while hearing a case related to the Rs 20,000-crore GainBitcoin scam.
FollowThe Supreme Court on Friday asked the Centre to clarify its stance on its position on Bitcoin and if cryptocurrencies are illegal or not in the country. Currently, there is no regulation or any ban on the use of cryptocurrencies in the country.
A Bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and Surya Kant asked the Narendra Modi-led government to make its position clear on legality of cryptos while hearing a case related to the Rs 20,000-crore GainBitcoin scam.
The central government is preparing a Bill to regulate cryptocurrency and other digital assets in India. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Union Budget 2022 announced that the central government will levy a steep tax at 30 per cent on virtual assets including cryptocurrencies and Nonfungible tokens or NFTs. For this crypto tax, Budget 2022 proposed to introduce a new section 115BBH to levy income tax on cryptocurrencies and other virtual assets.
In 2018, Amit Bhardwaj and his brother Vivek (both accused in the GainBitcoin scam along with another brother Ajay), were held at Delhi's IGI airport in connection with an alleged Ponzi scheme under which they duped more than 8,000 people from across the country.
An initial estimate of the GainBitcoin scam was pegged at Rs 2,000 crore. Bhardwaj promised higher returns to investors who gave him Bitcoins and also offered them Bitcoin mining hardware.
Moreover, the Reserve Bank of India is in favour of a complete ban on the speculative assets. Reserve Bank Deputy Governor Michael Patra, earlier this week, had said that cryptocurrencies hold no underlying value at all, and has also called them a threat to financial stability.
The cryptocurrency community in India, meanwhile, continues to grow despite no clear communication from the government or the Reserve Bank of India. Many exchanges have also stated roping in big celebrities and taking non-conventional ways of advertising through social media platforms.
Â
