Legal Status of Crypto-Assets in India Through the Constitutional Lens

The Reserve Bank of India passed A Circular dated 6 April 2018 (the ‘circular’) following that, the Indian Parliament formed an Inter-Ministerial Committee in 2019 which formulated the draft of Banning of Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2019. Both the Circular and Bill of 2019 have been stringent to an extent that they’ve interfered with the fundamental rights of the citizens of India. Where the RBI through its Circular banned the banks and legal entities from entering into any relationship with firms dealing with crypto-assets, the Draft Bill completely banned the use and possession of digital currency. The authors have analysed the Draft Bill and the landmark judgement of Internet and Mobile Assn. of India versus Reserve Bank of India, pronounced by the Supreme Court of India. The authors have also dived into the technological aspect of the crypto-assets and tried to understand the how this technology evolved.