Indian Official Suggests Ban on ‘Private Crypto’ Prior to Supreme Court Decision

India's secretary of Economic Affairs has recommended that the country’s Ministry of Finance to impose a ban on “private cryptocurrencies,” according to a report published by the Indian government press center Oct. 31.

The Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC), headed by India’s finance minister Arun Jaitley, held a meeting on the current economic and financial situation in India, attended by senior government and financial regulation officials.

Shri Subhash Chandra Garg, secretary of the Department of Economic Affairs, reportedly proposed that the Council “devise an appropriate legal framework to ban use of private cryptocurrencies in India,” as stated in press-release.

He further suggested “encouraging” the use of distributed ledger technologies (DLT), such as blockchain, in the country.

Crypto Kanoon — a team of Indian lawyers that publishes crypto and blockchain regulation news — posted a quote from the press-release in Twitter, questioning whether or not the potential ban would extend to possessing digital currencies and trading.

The Council’s discussion was held shortly after a hearing in Supreme Court of India last week, which had set a deadline for the Indian government to clarify its position on crypto. The Supreme Court requested that officials present their stance by mid-November.

The Indian crypto industry has been struggling to uplift a partial ban for seven months now, after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) ordered that local banks cease operations with persons or legal entities that are involved in cryptocurrency. As a response to central bank’s move, several crypto businesses filed a complaint against the RBI in India’s Supreme Court. The latter continued to uphold RBI’s ban, subsequently postponing the hearings.