Supreme Court issues notice in petition seeking regulation of Bitcoin

The Supreme Court yesterday issued notice to the Centre and the Reserve Bank of India in a petition seeking the regulation of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency in India..The order was passed by a Bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, and Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud..The petition filed by advocate Dwaipayan Bhowmick seeks directions to control the flow of Bitcoin by forming a committee to frame an appropriate mechanism to regulate the same..It contends,.“…lack of any concrete mechanism pending the regulatory framework in said regard has left a lot of vacuum and which has resulted in total unaccountability and unregulated Bitcoin (crypto money) trading and transactions….…emerging trend of crypto money if unchecked and unregulated is threat to exchequers money and financial sovereignty of the country…”.It is also averred that though Bitcoin does not fall under the definition of “currency”, it should still be regulated, since it is used in financial transactions..The petition also states that some countries have made the cyrptocurrency subject to their respective tax regimes, while others countries have designated it as a commodity, thereby making it subject to government regulation and accountable to the exchequer..The petitioner, therefore, seeks that a policy be put in place to control the flow of Bitcoin and to ensure that the same is made accountable to the exchequer..Bitcoin is a virtual currency used to conduct transactions without involving banks, credit card issuers or other third parties. These coins are user-generated and can be bought and sold in exchange with US currency. It is an untraceable currency that works on the model of blockchain technology..Read the petition:.Image taken from here.