Draft Law Proposes 10-Year Jail for Dealing in Bitcoin, Other Cryptocurrencies : Cryptocurrency Ban

The bill also makes holding cryptocurrencies a non-bailable offense.

Holding, selling or trading crypto-currencies such as Bitcoin could take you to prison for 10 years.

The bill on "The ban on cryptocurrency and the regulation of the official digital currency 2019" proposed a 10-year prison sentence for people who "exploit, generate, hold, sell, transfer, dispose of, issue or trade in cryptocurrency ".

In addition to making it completely illegal, the bill makes the detention of cryptos a Non-Releasable offense.

A cryptocurrency is a digital or virtual currency that uses cryptography for security and is generally based on blockchain technology, a large distributed book that is reinforced by a disparate network of computers. Bitcoin is the most popular cryptocurrency in the world.

Given the high risk of misuse of encrypted money for money-laundering purposes, various government agencies such as the Department of Income Tax and the Central Board of Indirect Taxation and Customs (CBIC) had approved the prohibition of encrypted currencies.

The cryptocurrency ban bill has been under development for some time under the leadership of Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg.

While a strict law will soon be in place to deal with people engaging in Cryptocurrency trading, India is likely to have its own digital currency.

"A decision on the launch of the Digital Rupee would be made after consultation with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)," said one official.