Minister of State For Finance, Pankaj Chaudhary, today informed Parliament that busts by the Narcotics Control Bureau, Central Board of Indirect Taxes, and Customs have unearthed links hinting to the use of cryptocurrency as payment in drug trafficking-related cases.
He was responding to queries on whether investigating agencies had come across increased instances of cryptocurrency being used in drug trafficking.
Chaudhary said: “Narcotics Control Bureau and Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs have unearthed payment of approx. Rs. 2.2 crore through crypto-currency in 11 cases linked to drug trafficking.”
He also explained how the government was trying to deal with the situation. The government was “training the field officers on cyber and forensic technologies, as well as on how to collect evidences through electronic means.”
Chaudhary further said that the Web3 space was constantly evolving, but for the time being, it is regulated under the Information Technology Act, 2000. He also clarified that the government has worked out on national strategy related to Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence.
“The technologies related to Metaverse/Web 3.0 are still evolving. The government is cognisant of the emergence of new technologies, and the rapid proliferation of emerging technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, Drone, Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality, Metaverse, Web 3.0 etc. The Information Technology Act, 2000 covers the technology space. The Government of India has worked out national strategy on the emerging areas, especially National Strategy on Artificial Intelligence and National Strategy on Blockchain,” he said.
Crypto Prices
The price of Bitcoin fell by 0.15 per cent in the last 24 hours, and it was trading at $46,146.18 at 5:30 pm IST. Its dominance in the crypto market is currently at 40.82 per cent, up by 0.02 per cent in the last 24 hours, according to Coinmarketcap.com.
In the last 24 hours, Ethereum (ETH) was trading at $3,487.87, a rise of 0.15 per cent, while Binance Coin (BNB) rose 0.63 per cent in the same period, and was trading at $447.25. Solana (SOL) was down by 3.45 per cent to $134.77, while Cardano (ADA) was up by 4.27 per cent to $1.22.
Meme Coins
Among meme coins, Dogecoin was up 9.10 per cent, and it was trading at $0.1537 at 5:30 pm on Coinmarketcap.com. Its rival, Shiba Inu, was up by 2.50 per cent, and was trading at $0.000027. Samoyedcoin was down by 11.82 per cent, trading at $0.02217, while Dogelon Mars was up by 1.62 per cent, and was trading at $0.000001031.
Overall Scenario
According to Coinmarketcap.com, the global crypto market cap was at $2.15 trillion, a decrease of 0.24 per cent in the last 24 hours, while the total crypto market volume was $100.72 billion, down by 5.80 per cent, according to Coinmarketcap.com.
Block Ape Scissors (BAS) became the biggest gainer, recording a rise of 169.55 per cent. It was trading at $0.7 at 5:30 pm, according to Coinmarketcap. In contrast, TRVL (TRVL) witnessed the maximum loss, falling 25.66 per cent. It was trading at $0.1526, Coinmarketcap.com reported.
