Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum will never become legal tenders: Finance Secretary

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Speaking to ANI, Finance Secretary said, «Digital rupee will be backed by RBI which will never default. Money will be of RBI but the nature will be digital. The digital rupee issued by RBI will be the legal tender. We can purchase non-digital assets with the digital rupee like we purchase an ice cream or other things using our wallet or payments through UPI platform.» «Rest all are not legal tender, will not, will never become legal tender. Bitcoin, Ethereum, or any picture of Actor become NFT will never become a legal tender,» he added.

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Sunny Leone took the lead among Indian actors to secure her digital assets when she broke the news about her association with NFT, two months back. This made her the first Indian actress to mint NFTs

Somanathan said that crypto assets are assets whose value is determined between two people, you can buy gold, diamond, and crypto assets, but that value will not have authorisation by the government. People investing in private crypto should understand that it is does not have the authorisation of the government. There is not any guarantee that your investments will be successful or not, one may lose money and the government is not responsible for this, he said. Finance Secretary clarified that the things which are not legal don't mean that they are illegal. «I am not saying that Bitcoin or Ethereum is illegal, but that is not illegal too. But I can say that if regulation comes for cryptocurrency then also it will not be a legal tender,»