Bitcoin (BTC) Price Stalls on India's Push for Total Crypto Ban and $850 Million Tether Bombshell

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Cryptocurrencies shed $10 billion in an hour over the newly discovered regulatory risks surrounding stablecoin Tether.

The price of Bitcoin has dropped by $256 (–4.68%) over the last 24 hours as markets reacted to accusations from New York’s Attorney General that $850 million in losses were hidden by the operator of Tether and exchange Bitfinex.

Bitcoin’s market capitalization dipped to $91.6 billion then recovered to $93 billion shortly thereafter with a 24-hour low of $5,177.37 from its high of $5,542.24. BTC is currently down 3.55% to $5,290.06 at time of writing, according to data compiled by CoinMarketCap.

Despite the dip, Bitcoin’s dominance in the crypto market remains steady at just over 54%, up from 50% on April 1st, following BTC’s most recent price surge. Ethereum is the second most widely held cryptocurrency at 9.63%, followed by XRP at 7.24%.

Percentage of Total Market Capitalization (Dominance)

Source: CoinMarketCap

Meanwhile, India’s government has circulated a proposal to eliminate cryptocurrencies from all areas of business and daily activities. The “Banning of Cryptocurrencies and Regulation of Official Digital Currencies Bill 2019″ brings the country steps closer to outlawing the sale and issuance of digital assets like Bitcoin.

The bill was circulated to several government agencies, including officials at the Department of Economic Affairs who support a complete ban of cryptocurrencies. According to a report from The Economic Times, numerous departments in India support the ban.

“A number of government departments including the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) and the Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority (IEPFA) have endorsed the idea of a complete ban on the ‘sale, purchase and issuance of all types of cryptocurrency’ according to a government officials who did not wish to be named.”

A committee with representatives from the Department of Economic Affairs, Central Board of Direct Taxes and Customs, and the Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority believe that the Prevention of Money Laundering Act could be used to gain enough legal grounds to achieve the ban.

Last October, the Supreme Court of India requested that the Reserve Bank of India formally declare its stance on cryptocurrencies. Since then, officials have taken several measures to stifle innovation, regulation and integration of cryptocurrencies.