Supreme Court lifts RBI ban on trading in cryptocurrency

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Supreme Court lifts RBI ban on trading in cryptocurrency
Supreme Court lifts RBI ban on trading in cryptocurrency

New Delhi : The Supreme Court on Wednesday lifted ban imposed by the Reserve Bank of India on trading in virtual currencies such as Bitcoin. A three judge bench of Justices Rohinton Nariman, Aniruddha Bose and V Ramasubramanian pronounced the judgment.

The development came as a major relief for the sectors which had restrictions from the RBI over banking transactions for cryptocurrency exchanges and traders.

The apex court's order came on an PIL filed by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IMAI) that raised objections over the ban imposed by the RBI. The industry body - whose members carried out cryptocurrency transactions among each other - had claimed the move effectively banned legitimate business activity via virtual currencies.

IMAI had argued that cryptocurrency is not strictly currency and was more in the nature of commodity, and the RBI does not have powers to impose such ban in the absence of a law in that regard prohibiting cryptocurrency.

In April 2018, the Central Bank had tightened rules to ensure degradation of usage of virtual currencies such as Bitcoin.