India to ban private cryptocurrencies and launch official digital currency

The proposed legislation follows a crackdown on cryptocurrencies in China, where financial regulators and the central bank have made all digital currency transactions illegal.

In September, El Salvador became the first country to accept a cryptocurrency, bitcoin, as legal tender. But major economies have generally been wary of digital currencies, with the deputy governor of the Bank of England, Sir Jon Cunliffe, warning that they could cause financial meltdown. Nonetheless, the BoE and the Treasury are to launch a formal consultation into a UK central bank digital currency next year.