The apex court announced its decision after hearing numerous petitions challenging RBI's April 2018 order imposing a ban on financial firms or individuals in India from trading in cryptocurrencies.
It is to be noted here, while the order dismissed debarring of virtual currency trade, the government has already prepared a draft bill which seeks to prohibit mining, holding, selling, trade, issuance, disposal or use of cryptocurrency in the country and if anybody indulges in aforesaid activities they can be punished with a fine or imprisonment of up to 10 years, or both in some cases.
Also Read: Fitch cuts India GDP growth forecast to 4.9% for FY20
The draft bill was prepared by a government panel which also called for the launch of an official government backed digital currency in India to function like banknotes, to be issued through the RBI. Contemporarily, global uncertainity on cryptocurrency trade especially with regulatory issues remains in the air.
Repeatedly, warning has been issued by the Indian government against investing in digital currencies, saying these were like Ponzi schemes that offer unusually high returns to early investors.
The government panel, headed by the then finance secretary Subhash Chandra Garg, recommended a fine of up to 250 million rupees ($3.63 million) and imprisonment for up to 10 years for anyone who mines, generates, holds, sells, transfers or issues cryptocurrency.
There is no underlying intrinsic value of these private cryptocurrencies, the panel said in its report submitted to the finance ministry.