The government plans to come out with a bill to deal with cryptocurrencies as regulatory bodies Reserve Bank of India and Securities and Exchange Board of India do not have the legal framework to deal with them.

Minister of state for finance Anurag Thakur informed the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday that the bill on cryptocurrencies is being finalised and will be sent to the cabinet soon.

Cryptocurrencies are digital or virtual currencies in which encryption techniques are used to regulate the generation of their units and verify the transfer of funds, operating independently of a central bank.

The cryptocurrencies are not currencies, or securities or commodities.

The current laws are inadequate to deal with them. Regulators Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Sebi do not have the framework to regulate cryptocurrencies,” he said.

Globally, there are different definitions of cryptocurrencies, which have been adopted by international bodies, he said.”

“The RBI also took initiative and banned cryptocurrencies. Based on all this, reports were submitted and the government has prepared a bill, which will be tabled in Parliament soon,” he added.