To extract the revenues from the gains made by investors from the elusive cryptocurrency Bitcoin , CBDT Cheif Sushil Chandra stated that those who have profited from Bitcoin, would have to pay tax , else action will be taken against them.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley stated that he will take all measure to eliminate use of crypto in financing illegitimate operations.
On Monday , the man who predicted the 2008 US housing bubble , Nouriel Roubini said that this (Bitcoin) is mother of all bubbles and it is also the biggest bubble in human history if you compare it to Mississippi bubble , tech bubble , and Tulip mania.
Bitcoin, which is a virtual currency, is not regulated in the country and its circulation has been a cause for concern among central bankers the world over for quite a while now. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has also cautioned users, holders and traders of virtual currencies. The government has also said that it does not recognise ‘crypto-currency’ as legal tender in India.
Officials also said that the trigger for the action is understood to be the huge spike being registered in the value of bitcoins and other virtual currencies in the recent past. Suspected black money being converted into white, post demonetisation , through the use of bitcoins was also under the department’s scanner.