Media: Indian authorities propose prison terms for Bitcoin holders

India will consider a bill banning cryptocurrency operations and introducing criminal and administrative liability for miners and traders. reports Reuters, citing an unnamed government official.

The draft would require citizens to liquidate digital currencies within six months. After this period, fines would be imposed on holders. Going forward, ownership, issuance, mining, trading and transfer of crypto assets would be punishable by prison terms.

The authorities say the plan is to ban cryptocurrencies without hindering blockchain development, the official said.

“The use of the technology itself will not cause harm, but the government will impose fines on those who did not liquidate crypto assets within the grace period established by law,” he explained.

The official declined to disclose the amount of fines or prison terms. According to him, discussions on the document are in their final stages.

Industry estimates put the number of investors in India at about 8 million who hold digital assets worth ₹100 billion ($1.4 billion). There are no official figures.

Back in 2019, a government-appointed working group concluded that cryptocurrencies had no value. Authorities were advised to ban all digital assets except those issued by the central bank. At that time, a government panel proposed fines of up to $330 000 and prison terms of up to 10 years for miners and traders.

According to several media reports, the document banning cryptocurrency trading was brought before the Council of Ministers of India in September 2020.

In February 2021, Bloomberg, citing an anonymous senior Finance Ministry official, reported that if the ban is enacted, holders would have from three to six months to close out positions. After the transition period investments would be liquidated.

Subscribe to ForkLog news on Telegram: ForkLog Feed — the full news stream, ForkLog — the most important news and polls.