Cryptocurrency will not be considered as legal tender by any means- Finance secretary TV Somanathan
Somanathan's comments come in the wake of the Centre's plan to introduce a law to regulate cryptocurrency in Parliament's Winter Session.
He said "one thing I can say very clearly is that crypto will not be legal tender by any means. Gold is not a legal tender, silver is not a legal tender and alcohol is also not a legal tender"
Somanathan also said " Drafting of the Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021 is going on right now"
A regulation mechanism will be in place so that crypto is not misused. Govt is concerned about its role in ‘hawala’ and terror funding "
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had last week said cryptocurrencies must not fall into the “wrong hands and spoil our youth"
Somanathan here strengthened the govt and RBI's recent hint about floating a strong regulatory control on crypto to avoid money laundering and terror financing, rather than banning it entirely.