India proposes legislation to ban private cryptocurrencies

India's parliament will consider a government-proposed bill in the upcoming budget session that would ban private cryptocurrencies. The bill, titled the Cryptocurrency and Official Digital Currency Regulations, 2021, seeks to ban all cryptocurrencies and provide a framework for the creation of an official digital currency issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The bill states that while the bill is anti-private cryptocurrency, certain exceptions will be allowed to promote the underlying technology of cryptocurrency and its use cases. India's budget session is reportedly held from January to March. If the bill is approved, India will become the only major Asian economy to ban private cryptocurrencies rather than regulate them. (CoinDesk)