The federal government will encourage blockchain, the technology underlying cryptocurrencies, but is not keen on cryptocurrency trading, according to two people. Rival China, which banned initial coin offerings and virtual currencies in 2017, recently allowed Bitcoin trading as virtual property, not as fiat money. And while it is planning a virtual currency, the government is averse to the idea of the cryptocurrency trades. A renewed trading ban could affect more than 1.7 million Indians trading in digital assets and a rising number of companies setting up platforms for the trade, data shows. About half the users of the Sequoia-backed company’s local arm CoinSwitch Kuber, platform, which allows virtual currency purchases in Indian rupees, are less than 25-years old.

Source: Mint September 15, 2020 12:11 UTC