India may create obstacles to crypto trading and holding: Report

India plans to tighten regulation of cryptocurrencies to deter investors from holding them though the government is unlikely to follow through with an earlier plan to ban private digital coins, according to two sources familiar with the discussions.

Instead, it could allow only those that have been pre-approved by the government to be listed and traded on exchanges — an intentionally cumbersome process, said the sources, who asked not to be named as the discussions are private.

“Only when a coin has been approved by the government can it be traded, else holding or trading it in may attract a penalty,” said the first source.

The government aims to introduce and pass a cryptocurrency law in the parliamentary session that begins this month.

Such a pre-verification approach would create obstacles for thousands of peer-to-peer currencies that thrive on being outside the ambit of regulatory scrutiny.

On Thursday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said all democratic nations must work together to ensure cryptocurrency “does not end up in wrong hands, which can spoil our youth” — his first public comments on the subject.

Source: https://www.livemint.com/market/cryptocurrency/india-may-create-obstacles-to-crypto-trading-and-holding-report-11637251755223.html