Cryptocurrency: No stay on RBI Circular, Supreme Court issues notice

The Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) has moved the Supreme Court seeking a stay on the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Circular that effectively disallowed dealing of cryptocurrency..The petitioner body represented by Senior Counsel Aryama Sundaram contended that the matter is of urgent nature, considering that the deadline laid down in the RBI Circular is July 6..On April 6 this year, the RBI passed a Circular disallowing regulated bodies and entities from dealing in virtual currency or cryptocurrency. This Circular also banned regulated entities from offering services to those who deal in cryptocurrency..The deadline for adhering to this Circular and winding up all cryptocurrency dealings was set for three months from the date the order was passed..The petitioners today sought a stay on this Circular, arguing that those people who are holding such currency are now stuck with it and this could cause irreparable loss for them..The RBI countered by saying that cryptocurrency was never really a legal tender..Sundaram argued,.“Whatever regulation is required to deal with the issue of cryptocurrency needs to come, and should come. But it should not be done without considering the representation of the petitioners.”.While the Supreme Court Bench of Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra and Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud refused to stay the RBI order in question, it issued notice to the RBI..The matter is now listed for July 20.