An interdepartmental group has been constituted to study and provide guidance on the “desirability and feasibility” to introduce a “central bank digital currency” and will submit its report by June.
Scammers are using "crypto-jacking" or putting lines of code in websites or ads to surreptitiously harness the computing power of the web surfers who look at them.
The move has, however, been welcomed as "constructive" by Rahul Raj, Founder & CEO, Koinex, India's leading cryptocurrency exchange.
In January, the prices of cryptocurrency were nearing $20,000, but its value dropped to as low as $5,921 on Tuesday.
As per reports, these purchases will no longer qualify for earning credit card points as well.
"Cryptocurrencies are not legal tender and the government discourages its use. However, the government will look at the utilisation of Blockchain (a distributed digital technology that supports crypto currencies)," Jaitley said.
In an era of major data leaks like Panama papers (2016) and Paradise papers (2017), India's high net worth individuals (HNIs) have been flooded with new options to hide their money away from prying eyes of the general public.
The Coincheck exchange said on its website that it had halted sales and withdrawals of a cryptocurrency called NEM.
While a repeated message was being given that such currencies were not legal tender, more detailed steps would be taken once the report of the committee is submitted, he said.
Tyagi further said Sebi would have to regulate Bitcoin if these get classified as a commodity and are traded as commodity derivatives.
Suspected black money being converted into white, post demonetisation, through bitcoins was also under the I-T’s scanner, officials said.
US Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Jay Clayton warned that trading and public offerings in cryptocurrencies may be in violation of federal law.
According to the Coindesk Bitcoin Price Index, the market cap for the virtual currency also reached a historic high of $168 billion.
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