Over the last few days, crypto-currency investors in India have pulled at least ₹1,000 crore from their accounts after the government said that it would introduce a new piece of legislation banning private crypto-currency activity in the country. Three founders of Indian crypto-exchanges told MediaNama that overnight there has been panic selling by Indian investors in Bitcoins and other cryptos after the news broke of another crypto ban proposal. As part of the Budget session of Parliament for 2021, the government will introduce a bill which will ban trading and investments in crypto-currencies. At the same time, the bill provide the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) with the necessary legal powers to develop a central bank-backed digital currency (CBDC) or digital Rupee. The decision to introduce The Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021 comes a week after the RBI said it had begun exploring the possibility of issuing and developing a digital currency or digital Rupee. “To create a facilitative framework for creation of the official digital currency to be issued by the Reserve Bank of India. The Bill also seeks to prohibit all private cryptocurrencies in India, however, it allows for certain exceptions to promote the underlying technology of cryptocurrency and its uses,” — Lok Sabha Bulletin Part II. According to data from domestic crypto-exchange WazirX, Bitcoin was trading at a high of over ₹28.5 lakh on Friday and dropped to ₹21.6 lakh as of February 1 morning. Prices recovered during the day to a little…
