India, May 19 -- The Supreme Court on Monday questioned the central government's prolonged inaction on regulating cryptocurrencies and said that the absence of a clear legal framework haS created a fertile ground for "misuse." The Court also reiterated that unregulated Bitcoin trading was "nothing but a more polished form of Hawala," an informal and illegal method of transferring money across countries.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh made the remarks while hearing a bail petition filed by Gujarat resident Shailesh Babulal Bhatt, who has been accused of cryptocurrency related fraud across multiple states. Though the bail plea itself was unrelated to broader policy matters, the bench to expressed its concern over the l...