In Brief:
- The Cryptocurrency bill which aims to bring in regulations on digital assets could not be presented in this year’s winter session of the Parliament.
- The winter session ended on 22nd December.
- There is a possibility that the Bill might be introduced in the Budget Session of the year 2022.
India’s much anticipated Crypto Bill, which was apparently working to bring about stringent regulation on the crypto sector has not been presented in the Parliament even as the winter session of the Parliament ended on 22nd December.
Even in the budget session of February, this year, the bill was shelved. Thus, this is the second time the Bill was surrounded by a lot of hype and as a result was discussed with crypto experts but was not presented in the Parliament.
Last week, we had reported that the Crypto bill might not be on the Cabinet’s Agenda this winter session as the government was working on it and did not finalise anything until that point.
Meanwhile, the Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharman has disclosed that cryptos would not be legalised as a tender, it would certainly be regulated. She even confirmed that the pending crypto bill would certainly be different from the old draft.
The catch-22 situation in the Indian crypto scenario has led to many other speculations regarding the Crypto bill.
For instance, some believe that India may not bring out a separate bill for crypto but rather make few changes in different laws related to money laundering, cross-border transactions etc that already exist.
Another possibility is that if the crypto bill is introduced in the Budget Session, it is more likely to be sent to a special select committee, specifically formed for the purpose of deliberating and scrutinizing the bill. This special committee might not complete its discussions in the same session of Parliament.
The other chances could be that the government might come to a conclusion if a crypto scam emerges or the government might think of regulation in parts.
