India intends to tighten regulation of cryptocurrencies in order to deter investors from owning them, while the government is unlikely to follow through on an earlier vow to prohibit private digital coins. Instead, it may only allow those cryptocurrencies that have been pre-approved by the government to be listed and traded on exchanges, reported Reuters.

Also Read| Bitcoin Fear and Greed Index on November 19, 2021

“Only when a coin has been approved by the government can it be traded, else holding or trading it in may attract a penalty,” said the source.

The government aims to introduce and pass a cryptocurrency law in the parliamentary session that begins this month.

A pre-verification strategy like this would make it difficult for thousands of peer-to-peer currencies that thrive on operating beyond the reach of regulatory monitoring.

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The Bitcoin fear and greed index on November 19, 2021, went from the neutral level of 52 to the fear level of 34 as per the alternative.me. The Fear and Greed index is a technique for assessing investors’ emotions toward the market.

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According to a senior government source, investors “will have to pay over 40% on any crypto gains thus far,” adding that extra goods and services sales taxes, as well as securities transaction taxes, might be applied on top of any capital gains taxes.

According to separate sources of Reuters, Prime Minister Modi presided over a meeting last week to discuss the future of cryptocurrencies, amid worries that unregulated crypto marketplaces might become conduits for money laundering and terror funding, the new laws are also expected to prohibit cryptocurrency marketing and advertising, dulling their attraction for retail investors. The government is considering classifying cryptocurrency as an asset class rather than a currency, as desired by crypto exchanges.

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However, a senior government source told Reuters that the objective is to eventually restrict private crypto assets while paving the way for a new Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).

The Reserve Bank of India, which has expressed “serious concerns” about private cryptocurrency, plans to launch the CBDC by December.

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Bitcoin is currently trading around $56,026.63, down 6.18%. In the last 24 hours, the highest it touched was $59,997.13, and the lowest was $55,705.18. The Bitcoin has a current market cap of $1,056,549,641,417. It has a circulating supply of 18,877,400 BTC coins and a max. supply of 21,000,000 BTC coins.