India will ban cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin or in any other form as the latest cryptocurrency news show us in the newly leaked documents that we are reading about today. After the documents were leaked on Scribd by the local blockchain and tech lawyer Varun Sethi, we can read that the document shows a preliminary text of a new law that is designed to ‘’prohibit the use of cryptocurrency.’’ The event adds fuel to the fire that is ongoing in India after the speculation that cryptocurrencies will be banned since the government in the country and central bank are trying hard to outlaw the use of cryptocurrencies once and for all. If the document is true, this confirms the fears that any kind of activity involving bitcoin and other altcoins will be illegal as one of the statutes reads:

 “No person shall mine, generate, hold, sell, deal in, issue, transfer dispose of or use cryptocurrency in the territory of India.’’

Sethi described the new document as ‘’the proposed Banning of cryptocurrency and regulation of Official digital currency bill 2019.’’ He noted that the bill is not drafted yet completely and is tabled in the parliament to become an Act without modifications. The punishment for those who will go against the law includes prison sentences up to 10 years long. As noted, India will ban cryptocurrencies since now they are sitting in a grey area. Since last year, the banks prohibited serving the industry business with services involving cryptocurrencies and they also refused to provide services for exchanges which led to many companies leaving the country while others shut down. In the absence of the decent regulation, some remained hopeful and believed in a positive outcome in the long term as the opponents of the banking ban even sued the Reserve Bank of India over the decision. India still appears to go even further than China but it is still unclear how the authorities will enforce a ban on an entity which is not under their direct control. The issue comes in a very important time as the US government is starting to grip the realities of decentralized networks. During the press conference on Monday, the Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin noted his desires to combat the role of cryptocurrencies in illicit activities while noting the words of the US  President Donald Trump who described bitcoin as being based on thin air as noted in the coming altcoin news.

The US Treasury Secretary is in the coming altcoin news for stressing out President Donald Trump's concerns on the use of cryptocurrency in order to finance illicit activity. The Secretary Steven Mnuchin also stressed the role of enforcing FinCEN regulations with respect to the organizations that are dealing with crypto. Mnuchin made the remarks at a press conference on July 15. He called the use of cryptocurrencies to fund illicit activity - addressing it as a national security issue and stating that billions of dollars have so far been used for this purpose. The US Treasury Secretary was confident in this, stating the following:

“Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin have been exploited to support billions of dollars of illicit activity, like cybercrime, tax evasion, extortion, randomware, illicit drugs, human trafficking … This is indeed a national security issue.”

In response to questions from the press and journalists from the best cryptocurrency news sites, Mnuchin further commented and talked about the role of crypto in financing crime. The US Treasury Secretary said:

“I think to a large extent, these cryptocurrencies have been dominated by illicit activities and speculation.”

Secretary Mnuchin also commented on Trump's latest tweet storm (his Twitter posts on crypto) and stated that "“As the President has said: ‘Bitcoin is highly volatile and based on thin air’” and “Treasury takes very seriously the role of the U.S. dollar as the world’s reserve currency.” As previously reported in our latest cryptocurrency news, President Trump tweeted out a series of anti-crypto and anti-Bitcoin remarks on July 12. This came after his "Social Media Summit" for conservative personalities. Trump said that the value of crypto is “highly volatile and based on thin air” and that as such, it can “facilitate unlawful behavior.” This is why the US Treasury Secretary felt the need to explain the issues further. As Mnuchin said, digital financial services are bound by the same Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism policies as traditional institutions such as banks. On top of this, the US Treasury Secretary noted that any crypto transmitters must comply with the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) as well as register with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), which is a bureau of the Treasury and the federal regulator which implements the BSA in practice.

The UK government is in the altcoin news for its regulatory attempt and action plan with which it aims to combat financial crimes that will include "action on cryptoassets" as it said. The tougher crypto regime will set out to "tackle fraud, money laundering, bribery and corruption" both at home and abroad. The new Economic Crime Plan from H.M. Treasury and the Home Office aims to overhaul the way economic crime is tackled. As such, it will also build better cooperation between the government, law enforcement as well as the private sector - an official announcement showed on Friday. What's most interesting, as the latest cryptocurrency news show, is the fact that the plan includes £6.5 million in backing from Barclays, HSBC UK, Lloyds Banking Group, Nationwide, RBS and Santander UK - all in order to reform the Suspicious Activity Reporting regime.

“All parties will work together on longer term funding for developing richer intelligence and improving operational effectiveness in the fight against dirty money,” the announcement reads.

The agencies also want to take action and ensure that cryptocurrencies are not used for money laundering and/or other illicit activity. The tougher crypto regime is designed to ensure that, officials say. The illicit activities will crypto will be regulated by the establishment of a new crypto assets regime in conjunction with the UK's Financial Conduct Authority. The tougher crypto regime stated that this will “go beyond international standards to create one of the most comprehensive global responses to the use of crypto assets in illicit activity.” Furthermore, an Asset Recovery Action Plan will be set in place to help and recover the proceeds of crime, including funds held outside the UK. The announcement shows that £1.6 billion was clawed back from criminals between 2010 and 2018.

“The UK has one of the toughest systems for combatting money laundering, but too many people are still falling victim to fraud. This crime fuels everything from drug dealing to modern slavery, fundamentally undermining people’s faith in our financial system and impacting economic growth. By bringing together leaders from across government, law enforcement and business, we can better tackle the scourge of dirty money, and ensure the UK continues to be one of the safest places in the world to invest and do business," the Chancellor Hammond said in the coming altcoin news.

The US Internal Revenue Service, known as the IRS, may now consider subpoenaing major tech companies in the likes of Apple, Google and Microsoft in search of taxpayers and their unreported crypto holdings. As the latest cryptocurrency news show, IRS confirms that it has trained staff to identify crypto wallets. According to a slide deck presentation from an IRS cyber training session, the agency's criminal investigators are now trained to find potential crypto tax cheats. The altcoin news feature this slide deck stating:

“Issuance of a Grand Jury Subpoena should be considered for Apple, Google, and Microsoft for the Subject’s complete application download history."

Prepared by James Daniels who is the program manager for cyber crimes at the IRS criminal investigation unit, the deck proves that IRS confirms the claims. It also reads:

“Each application’s function should be explored to determine whether or not the application can transmit, or otherwise allow, transactions in bitcoin."

If such is the case, it should be checked whether the app allows only peer-to-peer transactions or transactions with crypto related businesses. The deck also leaked on Twitter and showed that IRS confirms its trained staff for crypto wallets. Justin Cole, who is the director of communication and education at IRS' criminal investigation unit, said that the materials were presented to agency staff at an event at the World Bank in Washington, DC on June 5 to June 7.

“The training material has been used around the world to various law enforcement partner audiences and was again given at this forum in a room that included partners from dozens of countries around the world as well as various press members,” Cole wrote in an email featured on many best cryptocurrency news sites.

However, Cole did not say whether the IRS will definitely implement the suggested measures.  “I can’t discuss specific investigative actions that the agency may or may not take in the future,” Cole said. Meanwhile, the IRS is getting ready to issue new guidance on reporting crypto for tax purposes, the first coming out with an initial notice published in 2014. As it stands, IRS confirms that new developments are happening everywhere around the organization.