The Indian government have made a bold move to move ahead and ban cryptocurrencies
The Indian government is preparing to impose a full ban on private cryptocurrencies, following a recent block made by China on the digital sector.
The ban would relate to all private cryptocurrencies with certain exceptions to allow the promotion of the underlying technology and its uses.
Cryptocurrency prices dropped on Indian exchanges after the decision on the bill’s future was announced.
The proposals made by India were flagged in a parliamentary bulletin listing upcoming legislation which included one paragraph on “The Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021”.
But despite the imposed ban, the accompanying description of the bill appeared to leave some room for using cryptocurrencies.
“To create a facilitative framework for creation of the official digital currency to be issued by the Reserve Bank of India,” it read.
“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.”
The Prime Minister’s response:
India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, stated last week that cryptocurrencies could “spoil our youth” and the country’s central bank has repeatedly warned, in line with other central banks, they could pose “serious concerns on macroeconomic and financial stability”
A new service from PayPal allows its customers to buy, hold and sell cryptocurrency directly from their PayPal account.
Despite bans imposed by China and now India – other economies around the world are embracing digitalised currencies
In September, El Salvador became the first country to accept a cryptocurrency, bitcoin, as legal tender.
Anthony Lucas is reporter, presenter and social media producer with ticker News. Anthony holds a Bachelor of Professional Communication, with a major in Journalism from RMIT University as well as a Diploma of Arts and Entertainment journalism from Collarts. He’s previously worked for 9 News, ONE FM Radio and Southern Cross Austerio’s Hit Radio Network.
Like all thing crypto right now, it’s also been a tough time for blockchain based carbon credit protocols during the last quarter.
They have been subject to the same market pressure as the rest of the industry, which is struggling to regain its footing since the collapse of Terra.
The sector is also facing ongoing questions about the quality of the credits being traded inside the base carbon tokens.
In April, researchers at Carbon Plan found that 28% of the Verified Carbon Units traded in on the Toucan Protocol were from “zombie projects.”
The sector is also facing structural issues around retired credits
The Paris Agreement prohibits the trading of credits from carbon offset projects registered before 2013. But these older projects are being traded on the Toucan protocol as recently as November last year.
The sector is also facing structural issues around retired credits too.
As the key Alliance for Financial Inclusion meeting kicks off, El Salvador’s President is using his address to promote crypto adoption.
32 central banks and 12 financial officials, all representing emerging economies are attending the event.
The President’s address will cover financial inclusion and the digital economy, and how El Salvador has benefited from being the first country in the world to adopt bitcoin as legal tender back in 2021.
Other countries attending include Paraguay, Haiti, Costa Rica and Ecuador in Latin America, plus Palestine and Pakistan in Asia.
The AFI has just resumed its in-person meetings following two years of Covid disruptions.
The event’s policy director says El Salvador has successfully harnessed digital financial services as the nation attempts to promote bitcoin among developing countries.
“It is a watershed moment in the country’s efforts to increase unbanked people’s access to, usage of, and quality of financial services.”