The panel is also discussing amendment of the Currency Act to make possession of any cryptocurrency, not approved by the government, a punishable offence, said the government official.
For me, as much as the quoted part feels threatening, this is a positive signal of how the Indian government is ready to embrace cryptocurrency. Here i see a sense of government protection instead of government regulation, a protection intended towards the welfare of their people and of course, a protection for their economic sovereignty.
This part of their proposals is an indicator that the government came to realize that a ban on crypto is not as beneficial as regulating them, perhaps because of the truth that crypto enthusiast will always find ways to stay within the cryptospace no matter the ban.