ED gears up to zoom in on illegal Bitcoin dealers

New Delhi: The sudden spike the sale of digital currency (cryptocurrency), which is fraught with potential risks, including financial, in the country has led the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to up its antennae, preparing to initiate inquiry against certain brokers of Bitcoin in the country.

It is likely to gather evidence with regard to establishing the identity of the investors and traders, transactions undertaken by them, identity of the counter parties and the bank accounts used.

The central probe agency, sources said, may also takeover the recent case of Delhi Police in which the latter busted an inter-state gang involved in duping investors by selling fake digital currency. The gang duped several investors of about `50 crore. Police arrested Narender, 32, a native of Sonipat in Haryana, who was the operational hand of the gang in Delhi.

"The ED sleuths are also in touch with the Income Tax officials who recently conducted surveys on nine virtual currency exchanges in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Delhi and Kochi. The IT action may also provide certain specific leads to the ED sleuths", sources said.

Talking to this newspaper cryptocurrency expert and founder of Ethxpay.com, Subhransh Rai, said, "If you do not have adequate information and knowledge about Internet and Bitcoins it is a high-risk investment and amounts to harming oneself.”

“We must appreciate the action initiated by Delhi Police and several other central probe agencies, including IT and ED. Those who are duping investors by selling fake digital currency must be nabbed," he said.

The demand for Bitcoin has risen worldwide but the Indian government is not considering it as a currency or even a commodity, said Mr Rai, adding that Japan has already made Bitcoin a legal currency.

Bitcoin is a type of digital currency in which encryption techniques are used to regulate the generation of units of currency and verify the transfer of funds. It operates independently and it has nothing to do with the banking channels.

The rate in India is much higher than in other countries because there is high demand but limited supply.

The RBI is yet to come out with a clear regulatory framework for Bitcoins, which have gained currency across the world in recent times. However, for the time being the central back has issued an advisory cautioning general public against use of Bitcoin and other virtual currencies.