Plans by the Indian government for a new bill that would bar most private cryptocurrencies has triggered heavy selling in the country’s digital currency markets, as investors look to exit positions despite the losses, said traders and investors.
The government will allow only certain cryptocurrencies to promote the underlying technology and its uses, according to a legislative agenda released late on Tuesday for the winter session of Parliament set to start this month.
The bill, if passed, would effectively ban citizens in India from transacting in most cryptocurrencies.
The dollar-linked stable coin tether (USDT) slumped 25% to nearly 60 rupees ($0.8061) on Wednesday after news of the bill, according to Naimish Sanghvi, a cryptocurrency investor.
A second crypto investor said the value of his portfolio had fallen to about 22,000 rupees from 34,000 rupees on Tuesday as a result of the heavy selling.
“I am contemplating selling because the future is so unclear,” said the investor, who asked not to be named as the information is sensitive.
Several exchanges were facing deposit and withdrawal challenges due to the high volume of selling, said cryptocurrency traders.
WazirX, one of India’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, said earlier on its official Twitter account that it was investigating reports that users were facing delays on its app and website. It later said the issue had been resolved.
There are an estimated 15 million to 20 million cryptocurrency investors in India, with total crypto holdings of around 400 billion rupees, according to industry estimates. There is no official data available on cyrptocurrency holdings and the user base.
($1 = 74.4310 Indian rupees)
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.
We, however, have a request.
As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.
Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.
Digital Editor
Stay connected with us on social media platform for instant update click here to join our Twitter, & Facebook
We are now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@TechiUpdate) and stay updated with the latest Technology headlines.
For all the latest Business News Click Here
For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News.