Bitcoin Forum

Will bitcoins be recognized by the Indian Government ?

Bitcoins are already legalized by the Indian government just few months ago and most of the Asian countries are started to legalizing bitcoins after India made bitcoin legal in their country.The current president of India want to go cashless economy so they are encouraging all their countries in India.And If you want to buy bitcoins in Indian currency you can buy them st localbitcoins.com because one of my friend from India trading bitcoins through localbitcoins exchange and Indian traders giving us best offers for us than other parts of world.

Your facts about legality of bitcoin in India are wrong buddy,bitcoin is still not been legalized in the country though it has not been illegal yet so people are using it.and to add zebpay is most trusted app to buy and sell bitcoin in India,it demands all of the your documents too

yes it's already legalised by the goverenment.

It seems to me that legalization is another. Finally legalized bitcoin is only when you can exchange bitcoin to any Bank in the country. It is not. The fact that bitcoin is not forbidden that does not mean its legalization. I think that until the Americans will not indicate its position on bitcoin, we will not see a full legalization in all countries.

I agree with the reply, based on my readings, India has already legalized bitcoin, and actually, India has the largest holding of bitcoin and is one of the countries that has the biggest bitcoin value. I mean India has been known in the tech industry for quite a while now, no wonder they have already delve deep into the bitcoin market considering it's rise in value and popularity these days.http://

First of all I would like to tell you all that just today our honourable Finance Minister has come with a statement discussing legality of bitcoin and clearly expressing that India does not recognizes bitcoin as legal nor does it has any intentions to do so. However certain recommendations and provisions related to bitcoin are in making.

This statement clearly explains that Bitcoin is not perfectly going to be legal across the country however also clearly depicts that government are not expressly using the word "Illegal". Indian Govt. recognizes the importance of bitcoin. India has been receiving the most of outsourced services from United States and other countries. Most of these exported services are reimbursed in Bitcoins. So if India bans bitcoin the services sector could shake a lot.

Moreover the world's top countries have still not made any preposition regarding bitcoin and I think this is what is constraining India from making any statement regarding it. While countries like Japan and New Zealand are favoring it a lot. Countries like USA and China have no specific intentions of banning it. India doesn't really wants to get added to the list containing countries like Morocco and Zimbabwe. So most probably yes it will be recognized.

Indian customs are not clearing Bitcoin mining hardware shipped from Bitmain, based on publicly unknown government directives. Shipments were being rejected at the border, so Bitmain has stopped shipping to India entirely. Refunds are being issued. Bitmain retweeted this (https://twitter.com/AkiDoiT/status/936503550796095489), which I interpret as confirmation that these reports are true (https://twitter.com/AkiDoiT/status/934105210565349378).


Do you have any sources to back this up? My understanding is that Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies are in limbo with regard to Indian laws and regulations. Just today, India's Finance Minister said that the government does not recognize BTC as legal tender (https://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-not-legal-tender-in-india-finance-minister-says/). Apparently, regulations are forthcoming.

Last month, the Supreme Court apparently pressed the government to respond to calls to regulate BTC:


The Finance Minister reiterated that the country does not have regulations governing cryptocurrencies. That is not "legalization" but rather a grey market where regulation is unclear, and where other general Indian laws and regulations (re: taxation, commerce, AML/KYC) apply.

Recently Indian Finance Minister has declared that BTC is not a legal tender in INDIA and they are working on its regulation will soon come with a firm decision on its legal status. Till now BTC is not illegal in INDIA, You can bear your own risk if you want to hold it.

Bitcoin is not yet declared legal currency in India because the government is still assessing the possibility of legalization by regulating the bitcoin and other digital currencies to ensure that it will not be used in illegal activities such as scams, laundering and smuggling therefore you still can enjoy the benefits of engaging bitcoin without tax because bitcoin is not legal but not ban in the country.

As i know, at present, there are no regulations governing virtual currencies like bitcoins in India.But RBI issued a press release on virtual currencies like bitcoins, litecoins, bbqcoins, dogecoins stating that creation, trade and usage of virtual currencies as a medium for payment is not authorized by any central bank or monetary authority. Further, RBI has cautioned virtual currency traders and users to various security related risks such as hacking, malware attack etc. While RBI has not legalized bitcoins, it has declared them unauthorized as of now.

Their is still no law that justifies the legality of Bitcoin in India.But it is said that a decision will be taken regarding the legality of Bitcoin in the coming month of April. I think that Indian government will declare it as a legal currency because Bitcoin  has a lot of potential to improve the economy of India but government will surely impose some rules and regulations on it in order to control inappropriate use of Bitcoin .Bitcoin has the caliber to help the Prime Minister of India Mr. Narendra Modi to achieve his aim of making India a cashless country.So I think it will be recognized by Indian government .

Yes, of course. The government Venisuely to come up with a financial crisis creates its own cryptocurrency. India will follow the same example

You are 100% right. Bitcoin is neither legal, nor illegal in India. Zebpay operates with a general financial services license. They don't have a specific license to trade in crypto-currencies. This means that the website can be closed down anytime without warning.

That is quite a valid point but India is a country which these days is fighting with its full strength against problems like money laundering and tax evasion. In between this we see a cryptocurrency which gives you anonymity of identity. How can one even expect India to allow its people to trade bitcoins? If this happens the amount of black money into it will take a whole new level. Even banning purchase of bitcoin in cash would not be enough as one can easily purchase it in cash from other people or indirectly using foreign currencies. Its whole lot of confusion and I think that is why India is silent on the question of cryptocurrencies.

Legality of cryptocurrencies has been one of the major point of concern in India. It has kept many investors on a side where people think that investing in bitcoin might put them in trouble or they might even lose their money. This is completely a hoax as investors have been involved in this excellent money multiplication process for a quite long time. But with so much use of cryptocurrencies (bitcoin) is India they might soon be made legal in India.

Well there is nothing particularly talked about legality in India and maybe there will be some news next year. I think bitcoin will become legal in India as the Prime Minister of India wants to make the country a cashless country so making bitcoin legal can help to take big step towards the goal. Also, a leading wallet and bitcoin exchange named ZEBPAY is very useful in buying and selling your bitcoins as it is providing the best profit and offers than any other wallet available in India .

There's no decision yet about legalization of Bitcoin in India. There are no final verdict yet. But hopefully And they have no interest about regulating it. So people are free to buy and sell Bitcoin there. But i think mining there is quite hard. The government of India does not allow transporting miner there as far as i know. Because Bitmain doesn't support transporting Bitcoin miners on that territory. I could be wrong about that. I have checked Wikipedia. There's still no updates yet. What's important is, citizens there can still be able to enjoy Bitcoin.

It is not sure because government is trying to regulate this space. And if they feel that its not possible to regulate this and misuse can happen than they will be banning it. So its under discussion and committee have submitted their report and decision should be around the corner now. Lets us see what does government comes with the plan for cypto currencies and its future in India.

Hey which country do you live in?? Whats the source of the information you are stating? Our Finance minister just said a few days ago that they don't recognize bitcoin as legal. Moreover just yesterday our central bank also stated the very same thing. India isnt saying its illegal therefore not banning exchanges but they are still not declaring it legal.

Don't give false statement on the forum...try to do a handful research before posting.
BTC is never been legal in INDIA, still indian govt. is unable to take any firm decision on crypto-market. Recently Indian finance minister states that they do not recognize BTC as a legal tender (though its not illegal to hold or trade it). Even Reserve Bank warned investors about BTC in a informal tone.
So BTC legality is not clear in INDIA but soon a firm decision will be made by indian govt on its regulation and trading.

Countries like America would not be in a haste to make legal statement about the bitcoin legality. This is because, bitcoin is valued above every fiat and America "pride" itself about there dollar currency; so making such statement would mean outright subjugation of there pride.

Also, the economy of America is better off and they might not want anything thing that would help other countries to equal them financially and in status. They want to continue playing the "big brother" role.

The point then is, countries that will be quick to legalize it are countries that are more or less need to support their economy.

India is one of the power house countries in Asia because of its influence and alliance. It is nice thing that one of countries in Asia like India slowly accepting the electronic currency in their system;
for the innovation of good future.

I always hope Bitcoin can be legalized in developing countries in asia like India. India is a country with a fantastic population in the world. It certainly becomes a big challenge in the application of bitcoin. Bitcoin is not currently at a stable level. I really hope the application of bitcoin can happen in India so that other developing countries in Asia can follow the steps taken by the government of India.

Yeah, I also saw the same news in the newspaper two days back. Government has not declared it as legal nor illegal. So we can use it. If its illegal, government will first ban bitcoin exchanges but the exchanges are still continuing their service without any problems. So from that we can understand that government hasn't declared it as illegal either.

Hmm... what you have posted is closer to the real ground situation. And from what I have heard, the Indian authorities are closely monitoring the crypto usage within the country, especially after the trading volume surged during the demonetization drive. Currently they are compiling the database of traders with significant volume. But there is nothing to worry about.

For clarification, why some others reply post In this thread says that bitcoin is legalized in INDIA, it 's a big NO, are they lying or what? Bitcoin is not legalized in INDIA, and as far as I know there is no country from third world that already legalized bitcoin, maybe they accept but legalization is not as easy as picking up wild flowers in wild garden.

Not yet legal in INDIA...but soon it will be cleared about BITCOIN legal status in India. After the supreme court order, Indian govt has formed a committee to analyze pros and cons of BTC and how its legalization will affect the countries economy in near future.
Let's wait and watch what decision will govt take on the legal status of BTC.

Indian red tape is quite famous all over the world. They have just started a committee to study the pros and cons of Bitcoin usage. And my guess is that they will complete the study by sometime in 2022 or 2023, and the status of Bitcoin and its users will remain in legal limbo up to that date. Perhaps the government will wake up from slumber before that.

Well,, some say it’s legalized already or some insist that it is not either illegal or legal as if no decision has made.. But I have known that the bitcoin community in India is open,, means neutral like my country.. They can buy,, sell and invest in cryptocurrency when they want to.. Even I heard many bad news of attempts of regulation in that country,, many India bitcoin users are still one of the most numerous in my observation..

Yes. :)Bitcoins are already legalized by the Indian government just few months ago and most of the Asian countries are started to legalizing bitcoins after India made bitcoin legal in their country. I am so happy. :)

Legal or not, seeing 90% of the bitcointalk population is indonesian, they will still be trading and doing their things in bitcoins, in such country, the police can't really do anything

i simply dont understand what kind of regulations this baldy is talking about,do we have regulation in marriage where a muslim guy can marry 4 times at the same time keeping 4 ? do we have regulation on how much looting congress can do from india ? do we have regulation on how much money can be stashed in foreign banks ? do we have an accountability to people other than using them as tools to get elected ? if not ,shut the buck up,people will want to end the slavery and idiotic democracy that runs with an italian woman intercepting a young indian and killing the guy to get to power and trying constantly to get son into the throne of indian PM post,gone are those days we used to sound gullible,not anymore,we know more economics than you and your entire family knew ,we decide what we want to do with our lives,not some fake gandis and fake yadavs and fake good for nothing subserviant to vatican agenda sick people who wear turbans.

So the people who have already robbed us blind need to regulate and rob us blind again. No Thanks.

Governments can choose to either do nothing – which is okay; make things worse for cryptocurrency trading – like what Australia did by imposing sales taxes on all cryptocurrency transactions; or they can make things easier for companies by reining in the banks and encouraging companies by creating a level playing field,”

Government can't 'create' a level playing field because the field is already level. The only tool government has is a sledgehammer. It can only restrict markets. It can only destroy level playing fields by distorting the playing fields with force and violence of restrictions.

Future will be regulated, whether we like it or not :p

Any thing which does not comes under direct taxation of government will not be legalized in India.
They can't even block it. What all they can do is stopping the Indian exchanges ( there are few lesser known exchanges which doesn't have any impact on the overall bitcoin ecosystem)

Did you even bothered to read the previous posts in this forum? Bitcoin was never legal in India and from what I have heard that situation is not going to change in the medium-term. The authorities remain very hostile to the crypto-currency and they are not banning it outright because it can drive the crypto-usage underground.

Its over whelming to hear that Indonesian are supporting bitcoin, well it’s hard to say that governments are making wrong policies in regard of bitcoin because they may also be having some solid reasons and goals in their mind. If we talk about mass then they will prefer bitcoin over the fiat because it is easier to be used and gives a high output

From the things that I have read about this issue, I think the government of India is just protecting the personal interest between their fellowmen and the company of BItcoin.
India is cash-based country wherein there is small rate of survival in the company of bitcoin and I think that is the reason behind from this issue.

India has just legalized the Bitcoin because they saw a lot of significant benefits of it to the people around. Trading with the use of it also made transactions faster.

But at least the Indian government has given its approval on bitcoin. A protection to consumers, I think that's enough.

When did that happen? When did India legalized Bitcoin? I think many are still not aware about the legality of Bitcoin in India. Government has not approved Bitcoin as  legal and not declared it as illegal either. So there is no wrong in holding Bitcoin in India. Soon government will include them under goods and commodity section for taxation purpose.

Everyone is stating their own statement about the Legality of bitcoin but there is no official announcement about the bitcoin by the Gov itself. And every week a new rumours coming about it in the news or social media. The Central bank once warned the people, who are investing in bitcoin that the bitcoin price is not regulated and there is no official body to complain about any issue regarding bitcoin. That statement also crooked by the media and they represent it a wrong way.

As I heard, some time ago CNBC India announced that the Indian government committee has decided to support Bitcoin and is currently forming a task force to create various regulatory frameworks in order bitcoin to legalize entirely.

Yes i agree with you, but Indian govt. warn crypto holders many times, actually we can't predict the mood of government right now.
it is true that bitcoin neither legal nor illegal, that does not make sense for bitcoin holders, so always risk is involved in trading.

I agree with the reply, based on my readings, India has already legalized bitcoin, and actually, India has the largest holding of bitcoin and is one of the countries that has the biggest bitcoin value. I mean India has been known in the tech industry for quite a while now, no wonder they have already delve deep into the bitcoin market considering it's rise in value and popularity these days

its very good!

Bitcoin is legal in India. I mean, although they have not declared it legal but they have also not made it illegal. You can still invest in or buy Bitcoin. Only the banks in India are prohibited to deal in cryptocurrencies. This was, in fact, quite expected as banks have never shown a positive attitude regarding cryptocurrencies. But this does not mean that it is illegal in India.

Bitcoin is not legal at the same time it is not ilegal in india. Many people in India now use bitcoin, they earn money through bitcoin. It gives job to many people who have jobless. It fullfill many people basic needs. Just RBI warns the bank to control the tarnsactions of the people who made it through bitcoin. It gives three months warning period to the people who deals with the bitcoin. We cannot predict whether it is going to be continue or not. Lets wait and see the changes.

In India bitcoin is not banned. It means bitcoin is not legal and not ilegal. Reserve bank of india just announced that close the accounts of the person who made transaction with bitcoin. We dont whether its going to forward or not. But many countries nowadays accepted bitcoin. We dont know in India whether government will change this rules or not. But still traders doing bitcoin trading through many exchanges. Bitcoin is very popular among people so it is not completely banned. People find another ways to use bitcoin.

It would take minimum three years to even understand the benefits of bitcoin into India. This year RBI announced its entities not to accept or entertain crypto currencies. But if you look at the fact, we can see en-number of bitcoin users from India have risen more and more. The current government may soon allow a business personality to launch his own crypto currency followed by government's own cypto coin called Laxmi.  

India will not change anything. It would be an utter incompetent move if they announce something first, and then later on undo or soften their actions. It makes zero sense, especially so with how they have been acting similarly throughout the last years. India has always been firm on its measures concerning sites and tools forming a potential threat. As always, these measures cause the local crypto market to explode, which is something they can only blame themselves for. Regulating a market to strengthen your control is always better than blindly hammering down everything related to crypto like how they do it now. It's their loss at the end of the day -- allowing crypto to develop will boost their economy as well....

I hope there is hope for bitcoin India to legality in the country because India is a country whose economy began to grow today. perhaps by way of crypto actors there to explain what bitcoin and crypto is because so far the government likens bitcoin as a ponzy place while bitcoin is not the same as it is

I am so excited to hear the news of bitcoin landed in India freely. It would give freedom to every bitcoin members from India. Time will come if the government will fix everything absolutely they will recognize crypto. Think about if this government is really don't like crypto and doesn't have a plan anymore in the future they they should totally banned and prohibited every users not to use anymore. Anyone who will be caught will be impression forever.

There are chances as long as the current leader is in link with the biggest business personality Mugesh Ambani . Son of Mugesh Ambani has gone through block chain technology and has formed a team under his responsibility. Working on now to release thier own coin, jiocoin. The leader of the government may form its won currency named Laxmi. Though it would take few years, there are lot possibility.

of the information I get


But the government won't let Bitcoin trap the honest investors or help the black-money industry. While governments across world are not sure what to do with Bitcoin, the Indian government has swiftly acted to rein in Bitcoin and other such currencies. The income tax department has sent tax notices to tens of thousands of people dealing in cryptocurrency. The notices were sent after a survey assessed the penetration and patterns of virtual currency trade. The tax department is not going to wait u ..

Read more at:
//economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/62579050.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

We will see. Now indian government is busy creating strange restrictions and making noise out of nothing. But I think, that things will change soon, right after creating regulations

The Indian Government May Be Prepared to Legalize and Organize Bitcoin, Indian government officials are in the process of possibly giving legal status to bitcoin. Recently an inter-ministerial committee of parliament of India held its first meeting to discuss the use of bitcoin and virtual currency in the country. The authorities have noticed the volume of bitcoin that many Indians have traded recently. everything will be set by the sparrows.

That's interesting, and maybe from time to time there is still the possibility of Banks in India.. I'm sure, it will encourage/accept crypto. It may be a lack of preparation in response to all the characteristics of crypto and still consider some of the risks that could have an impact on the banking system. Well can be categorized.. this country is can be said an advanced's country and can be following the era developments.

For now the Indian government has not acknowledged bitcoin, but I think by the time bitcoin will be acknowledged by the Indian government, it will have a good impact on the people of India and the world.

For the Indian government today is still very difficult to accept bitcoin, but I believe someday the Indian government will receive bitcoin.

In India bitcoin is neither legal nor ilegal, the reserve bank of India just ask the banks to close the account of the person who use the transaction using bitcoin. And it gives three months time to banks. This is the situation in India. But officially no announcement declared that bitcoin is banned in India. But there is a serious discussion is going on about bitcoin legality. And governmnet keeps on watching the bitcoin useage by people in India. We just wait and see what is going to happens in India. There are so many countries accept cryptocurrency at present. It is a good decision, lets hope this will happen in India also soon.

Bitcoin will someday be recognized in India, it is only a matter of time for India to recognize bitcoin, or maybe it could be by switching leaders who will recognize bitcoin well.

I can see that the thread was created in December 2017 hoping India accepts bitcoin legally. The recent news from RBI seems to be disappointing. There is a team appointed to look after the possibility of legalizing bitcoin in India. Hope every exchange support this and bring a good result. The citizens are really far beyond than the leaders ruling the country. There must be educated personalities as leaders who can really understand the current generation and adapt what’s required. Hope soon India plus other countries who are yet to accept crypto currencies, should soon accept and adapt bitcoin for their wellness.

Receive bitcoin from where ?  :P

With the level of governance they are showcasing they wont be in power during the next election
This one article summarized everything what is happening in India. (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/24/world/asia/india-child-rape.html)

They have appointed the team long back and still they could not come up with anything, hopefully the judicial system will help in over turning the RBI circulation.

if India's current trading volume has grown rapidly, India's largest Bitcoin market has finally begun to take seriously to Bitcoin and consider regulating the market.

India has many smart people, but also many dumb ones. Legalizing bitcoin is one step to a glorious economy system because they surely are going to impose taxes which will be beneficial for them. Added to that, many unemployed people will find hope. However, the legality of bitcoin has not been put into action. They think that it will be a huge threat to their economy system and people will stop relying on banks. Go fix your banks' system first.

There is nothing to fix. Banks are doing what they are supposed to do, which is firmly dictating and limiting people's financial freedom. The banking system is nothing more than a tool for the government to maintain control.

From there I wouldn't expect any change. Instead, people should try to follow their own route to freedom, and now with how thriving crypto is, there are no excuses for anyone to fall back on.

People stop converting Bitcoin to fiat is a first and important step. In most cases regulations are all about how governments don't want to stimulate fiat versus crypto trades, then buy in initially, and never go back.

If there is enough local demand for stores to accept Bitcoin, they will. It's all incentive they lack because of how people aren't spending their coins.

bitcoin its a future of india

Indian Finance Minister arun jetly has declared that bitcoin. they said if you want buy bitcoin so it is your own risk  is not a legal tender in INDIA and they are working on its regulation will soon come with a firm decision on its legal status.

I think the reason you say does not only apply in India. Almost all of the countries that still not legalize bitcoin has the same reason with which you convey.

let's wait, will India allow bitcoin, but if we look at bitcoin development nowadays it's very fast and fast growth, let alone blockchain technology is needed for the future, it could be bitcoin will be allowed in india

But it seems to me that it is legal and illegal at the same time in this country now, isn't it?

You really need to clear your facts before posting anything. And not only you I read many posts saying that India has legalized bitcoin. I live in India and how is it possible that I would not know about this!?!?? I mean after having read so many posts saying this, I myself got perplexed and checked for some recent update, but there is nothing like that. The concept of legality of bitcoin is quite vague here in India. The government has not expressly declared Bitcoin to be illegal and neither has it been declared as a legal currency. Also I would add on that no ban has been imposed on the bitcoin.

Of course the country is moving towards digitization and cashless but that does not simply imply country has accepted bitcoin or whatever.


There is nothing like that. Actually the status of the crypto currencies in the country will become clear nut  with the advent of better policy framework in the country. the policy makers are yet not  clear with what to do or what not to do. The scenario is ambiguous and therefore people are making such kind of comments.

In India there is no explicit framework to regulate or ban the use of Bitcoin in India. But India's central bank has issued a policy that mentions money laundering and security issues in the use of bitcoin following India's largest Bitcoin trading platform that was forced to shut down.

Current status is some positive steps are taken from higher authorities towards bitcoin,that day is not far when bitcoin will get a legal status in India.Very soon Indian government may recognize & regulate bitcoin transactions and even levy tax on bitcoins.