The Indian government does not plan to recognize bitcoin as a currency, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Monday.
During a question and answer session in the parliament, Nirmala Sitharaman also said that the government does not collect data on bitcoin transactions, according to a report from local news site Mint.The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is also working on the phased implementation of a central bank digital currency (CBDC), the ministry of finance said, according to a report from the Economic Times (ET) on Monday. The central bank was reportedly planning to pilot test a CBDC in 2022.The RBI has already proposed an amendment a 1934 act to include digital currencies in the definition of bank notes, according to ET.The Indian parliament will discuss a highly-anticipated bill for cryptocurrencies, proposed by the government, in its winter session, which started on Monday.The bill will ban all private cryptocurrencies, only allowing some to promote the underlying technology, but will also look to set up a framework for a RBI-backed digital currency, according to a Nov. 23 parliament bulletin.
Read more: Indian Government Submits Bill to Ban Most Cryptocurrencies, Dashing Hopes for Friendlier Measure
