New Delhi, June 5: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday summoned businessman and actor Shilpa Shetty's husband Raj Kundra in connection with Bitcoin scam. Kundra is presently being questioned in Mumbai. The huge spike that has been registered in the value of bitcoins in the recent past have made the cryptocurrency, a talk of the town!

There have been reports about how Bollywood celebrities have been fascinated by bitcoin. Reports inform that they appear to find the currency fascinating, and see its potential for future growth. Celebrities that have been in news include Shilpa Shetty, Raj Kundra, Neha Dhupia, Vir Das, Nargis Fakhri, R. Madhavan, Huma Qureshi, Prachi Desai.

As the bitcoins or the virtual currencies (VCs) are illegal in India as of now, the IT department has taken action as per the existing provisions. The Reserve Bank of India has also cautioned users, holders and traders of virtual currencies, including bitcoins.

In January, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had clarified that bitcoin is not a legal tender in India. Jaitley had said that the government is waiting for a report of an expert on cryptocurrencies before taking any decision. In March, the Union finance ministry constituted an Inter-Disciplinary Committee to take stock of the present status of virtual currencies both in India and globally and suggest measures for dealing with such currencies.

Earlier, the government had already cautioned investors to be wary of virtual currencies like bitcoin, saying they are like Ponzi schemes with no legal tender and protection.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 05, 2018 12:41 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).