Cryptocurrency bill: Bitcoin in India trades at 20% discount to global prices

The government’s plan to ban all private cryptocurrencies in India has spooked investors with prices of the world’s oldest cryptocurrency bitcoin trading at a steep discount of up to 20% against a premium of 10% in the last few days.

The government on Friday had listed a bill, which proposes to ban all private cryptocurrencies in India — such as bitcoin, ether, ripple — in the legislative order of business for the Budget Session of 17th Lok Sabha.

The Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021 also stated that certain exceptions to promote the underlying technology of cryptocurrency and its uses would be allowed.