TIL Desk/Business/New Delhi/ Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman informed the Lok Sabha on Monday that there is no proposal before the government to recognise Bitcoin as a currency. In a written reply in the Lok Sabha, Sitharaman said the government does not collect data on Bitcoin transactions.
To a question on whether the government has any proposal to recognise Bitcoin as a currency, Sitharaman said, “No, sir”. Bitcoin, a digital currency introduced in 2008 by programmers as a cryptocurrency, allows people to buy goods and services and exchange money without involving banks, credit card issuers or other third parties.
The government plans to introduce a Bill in this regard — the Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill 2021 — in the ongoing session. The Bill seeks to ban all private cryptocurrencies, but might allow the underlying technologies.
In a separate reply to a written question, Union Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said the government received a proposal from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in October seeking an amendment to the RBI Act, 1934, to enhance the scope of the definition of “bank note” to include currency in digital form.
