India: prison for citizens who use cryptocurrencies for payments

The Indian government has stated loud and clear that it wants to ban most cryptocurrencies that are used as payment tools. The previously accepted bill will generally ban all activities related to the mining, generation, holding and trading of cryptocurrency assets. Furthermore, cryptocurrencies cannot be used as a store of value, an exchangeable medium or even as a unit of an account. Any failure to comply with the above rules would be considered a violation of the law which will lead to an arrest without a warrant or further notice. Those arrested will not have the right to be rescued from prison. The government's actions contradict the previous statement on plans for the promotion and further development of the blockchain industry and technology. In addition to a complete ban on the use of cryptocurrencies, the non-fungible token market will also take a hit and more likely stop functioning in the country, lawyers say.

Following the publication of the government's plans, most of the large Indian traders and investors had to exit all cryptocurrency-related markets with a significant loss due to the risk of being arrested. India remains one of the largest digital asset markets in the entire industry. Reuters suggests that there are up to 20 million cryptocurrency traders in the country, holding around $ 6 billion in assets on their balances.