Bitcoin in India trades about 15% below global levels

On November 24, the prices of major cryptocurrencies on platforms in India traded below global levels. Local traders reacted to media reports that a draft bill regulating digital assets would be prepared by February 2022.

According to Sharan Naik, Chief Commercial Officer of CoinSwitch Kuber, quoted by The Block, people began to panic. On the WazirX platform, the discount at one point exceeded 15%. As of writing, it had disappeared, according to CoinGecko.

It is envisaged that India will abandon a complete ban on cryptocurrencies in favour of treating them as exchange-traded commodities. Local traders will be obliged to pay taxes on transactions with these assets and income derived from relevant operations.

The document also mentions that the initiative aims to ban all private cryptocurrencies, with certain exceptions for the use of the technology underlying them.

According to sources from the publication, private digital assets include not only privacy coins like Monero, but all others that are not issued by the state.

According to News18, authorities will develop a regulatory mechanism to prevent abuses involving cryptocurrencies, primarily in hawala and terrorist financing. The government intends to track the provenance of digital assets.

Earlier, in late January 2021, media reported that Parliament planned to consider the government-proposed bill to ban cryptocurrencies.

In June, Bloomberg sources also said that the government would amend the document and will consider the possibility of regulating this class of assets.

Subscribe to ForkLog news on Twitter!