The government will be coming up with a new bill on cryptocurrency and the same will be introduced in the house once cabinet clears it, said Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Rajya Sabha today.

"The previous bill has been reworked," she said.

Cautioning people, FM further said that people investing in cryptos should be careful.

"Government has started an awareness campaign to alert people but I agree more can be done to sensitize the public. Risk that cryptocurrencies can lead to undesirable activities is being closely monitored. It is being discussed at various levels," she added.

Sitharaman further said that the government has not taken a call as of now on banning advertisements by crypto exchanges.

Meanwhile, it is speculated that the Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021 seeks to ban all private cryptocurrencies in India and make way for an official digital currency to be issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

The government hasn't clarified the definition of private cryptocurrencies yet. So, the popular opinion is Bitcoin, Ether and several other crypto tokens based on public blockchain networks will continue to be in use.

The development came after the first-ever parliamentary panel on cryptocurrencies led by BJP MP and former Union Minister Jayant Sinha gathered views from the representatives of crypto exchanges, Blockchain and Crypto Assets Council (BACC), industry bodies, and other stakeholders on crypto finance on November 16.

Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a high-level meeting with officials from various ministries and RBI on the way forward for cryptocurrencies in India.

Cryptocurrencies are based on blockchain technology. A blockchain stores information electronically in digital format.

In a public blockchain, anyone is free to join and participate in the core activities of the blockchain network, according to Investopedia. On the other hand, a private blockchain allows only selected entry of verified participants.

(Edited by : Anshul)

First Published:Nov 30, 2021 1:14 PM IST