Bitcoin Forum

Top banks suspend accounts of major Bitcoin exchanges in India  ;D

MUMBAI: Top lenders including State Bank of India, Axis BankBSE 1.12 %, HDFC BankBSE 1.00 %, ICICI Bank and Yes Bank have suspended some accounts of major Bitcoin exchanges in India, suspecting dubious transactions, three people aware of the development said.

The banks have also sought additional collateral from the promoters of these exchanges on their borrowings and have capped cash withdrawals from the few accounts that are still operational.

The banks are scrutinising current accounts held by top Bitcoin exchanges, a second person said. Action has been initiated against the top 10 Bitcoin exchanges including Zebpay, Unocoin, CoinSecure and BtcxIndia, said four people aware of the matter.

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com (https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/banking/finance/banking/top-banks-suspend-accounts-of-major-bitcoin-exchanges-in-india/articleshow/62576882.cms)

Neither is the trading banned nor any of the exchange banned. It was decision of the banks to freeze the account dude to certain suspicious activity as per them. The government or the RBI had not given the banks any directions it was a move made by the banks not the government. State of Bitcoin and Bitcoin trading is still same in India.

WTF, really...lol...debt ridden exchanges...1:1 collateral...establishing an exchange on the loan from a bank...can't confirm about the loan, but do know certain banks not cooperating with exchanges, but nothing to do with a flying F*****g  ban.

Just click that sweet ignore button under OP's name.

FUD...or stupidity..or both.

If a bank freezes a store account it means vegetables are banned in that country?

Banks have suspended accounts of shady exchnges involved in shady dealings. And one mentioned in the article is an exchange that I remember was always 20% higher than the market.

Nothing is banned, nor bitcoin nor trading.


Wish I had a "nuke" button for situations like this.

Your title and the content you are posting are a complete mismatch. I do agree that the major banks have now suspended the accounts of major crypto currency exchanges of India but Bitcoin trading is not banned in India yet. The actions taken were made by the banks and not the government itself. Bitcoin and other crypto currencies will still be available for trading. The problem goes to the exchanges now and indirectly to it's customers.

This is fake guys, this is just another FUD created by a newbie, or just created by someone who has a butthurt and he decided to start creating panic selling all over the community. Just ignore this, it is not being banned right now.

What does suspended/frozen bank accounts of top 10 Bitcoin exchanges mean ??  

HYIPs shut down after their bank accounts are frozen  ;D

Its nothing else but a rumor that is spread for the purpose of dropping Bitcoin's price and take advantage of it.
There is no news about the government of India announcing anything like that. Just because the banks have banned or freezed some accounts, it doesn't mean trading gets banned.
Bitcoin gets banned when governments call for it, not if the banks take any step for their own good. And trading is banned when the exchanges are banned, not if some accounts are banned.

Indian Prime minister "Narendra Modi" went to the extent of banning/removing all the old currency notes in India in November 2016, just to kill black money and tax evasion.

I read the report .
"Emailed queries to Zebpay, Coin-Secure and BtcxIndia did not elicit any response", "Bank did not respond to emails seeking comment" Then from where did the reporter get the news?
Government have not taken any step and all the step is taken by the bank only.

I read the article, and it wasn't mentioned anywhere that trading is banned in India. Nor it says anything about banning bitcoin. The only reason why those accounts were suspended was they were found suspicious by the banks. It is clearly said in the article that there have been suspicious transactions in those accounts, and any bank in any country would do the same if they find such a thing, even if the account is not connected with bitcoin by any mean.

Currency "notes" and Digital Currencies are two different things. He never mentioned anything about banning crypto or digital currencies from India. His actions were only against fiat currency of India to finish money laundering, and not against Bitcoin or other digital currencies.

It seems the trading has not been banned yet. If that happen, it will have adverse effects on the growth of the Indian economy.

I was attracted by the name of this topic that in India it is prohibited to trade bitcoin. As it turned out, this name does not correspond to its content. It's just that banks in India are checking some dubious accounts and this is normal activity. There was really no prohibition of trade in crypto currency in India.

What is it with people spreading FUD? It's the same thing with South Korea, it's highly logical and long term a good step for their to be further regulation in place and to crack down on suspicious trading activity.

  I don't think that bitcoin trading will be banned in India, may be some exchanges may get banned because the banks have been scrutinising the customers accounts for last one year itself  .

I think the news has been wrongly interpreted or should I say it is over reacting. India does not banned bitcoin exchanges there are only some issues they see that needs to be address or should be looking at that's why they need to suspend some suspicious activity. Some governments are now looking into bitcoin and all other alts since it started to pump and hit the market and make a lot of noise in 2017 so I will not be surprise if certain regulations will come out for them to have control over cryptos

I don't believe this as there are many friends of mine whose primary earnings comes from Cryptotrading.And they are happily transferring all their earnings in their bank account without any hesitation.Even the exchanges are working all fine as many of us are using Zebpay and it is giving absolutely great service.There are some fake news coming but that are meant for ignorance.Trading is working allright so are exchanges and on contrary the craze and trust on bitcoin and other alts is increasing.

Governments just try to leave management of monetary politics under their control. But process of cryptonezing is started and it is inevitably.  :)

the title you postings does not match what you discussed, the bank only limits the withdrawal does not block or prohibit the trading of bitcoins. it would be better post to customize what you discussed

You might want to review the title of your discussion. BTC hasn't been banned in India. The bank management froze some accounts and not even the government.

I'm suspicious with the link indicated at the first post so thanks to this man you made it easier. I assume that first77 is just spreading a FUD. Look at his post history, he posted this topic for nothing. He posted in other topics and did some few replies to this thread. He also spams the whole thread to other topic like this one https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2078447.msg28563963#msg28563963
He's misleading people and he won't take look to your suggestion of reviewing and changing his topic title as it has been suggested by others.

Until I read an official release on the statement its still going to be regarded as rumour. I would want a more reliable source rather than anonymous people who are quoted to be aware of the situation. When government when to ban bitcoin trading it does not go after some selected exchange sites it goes total just like what happened in China, this is probably a mere shake up based on current happening and again, who ask for additional collateral when they are about to be banned?

Confusion reigns in India’s cryptocurrency ecosystem.
The Narendra Modi government and India’s central bank have made it amply clear they aren’t comfortable with virtual currencies. The recent spike in bitcoin’s value, which attracted hordes of investors, has only made the government more vociferous in its criticism.
However, these announcements don’t make these virtual currencies, or trading in them, against the law....So, their status is in a curious limbo—they’re neither legal nor illegal in India...
On Nov. 30, 2017, when investor frenzy was at a high with rising bitcoin prices, finance minister Arun Jaitley said the country doesn’t recognise cryptocurrencies as legal tender....Almost a month later, the government cautioned people against investing in them, warning that they are similar to fraudulent investment schemes and have no legal status yet. “There is a real and heightened risk of  investment bubble (in virtual currencies) of the type seen in ponzi schemes which can result in  sudden and prolonged crash exposing investors, especially retail consumers, losing their hard-earned money,” the finance ministry said in a notification on Dec. 29, 2017. “Consumers need to be alert and extremely cautious as to avoid getting trapped in such ponzi schemes.”

Nothing has done, look at the title there's no change that can be found. And if you'll try to understand what you posted here
It doesn't really mean that bitcoin trading is ban on India. Those banks that you mentioned just suspended those bank accounts of those exchanges and it doesn't mean that they have to stop their major operation. Read the part that I bold mate, only their bank accounts are suspended not their whole business.

Bitcoin is not declared legal but not ban so people can do bitcoin transactions without tax at the moment in India but the government is still strictly monitoring transactions specially involving big amount in which they caught some exchanges doing dishonesty transactions that it may ruin the country therefore it is right to be suspended and to be investigate these exchanges.

It looks like a fake news intended to create a new dump where speculators will be able to buy cheap coins. I guess that news nowadays collude with speculators.

Indication of things to come....

It's been mainly the reason behind these bad news... Whales just want to buy cheaper..  :'(

You are right,bitcoin is not banned yet in India,but there is serious discussion about regulating the bitcoin exchanges because now only the Indian government aware that many people earning through crypto market without paying any taxes.
Freezing the accout maybe happened due to sudden transaction of a very large amount so this is just normal thing in banking system but there is no relation between banking system and trading exchanges so trading is still not illegal in India.

As usual, a lot of FUD and fake news surrounding this event. It is important because of that to be informed and read official sources, not just headlines on social media.

It could be some of the accounts are become a lobby of illegal money that's why banks shut down those accounts.  In other side  it will greatly affect the economy of cryptocurrency. Perhaps we can expect another dip of coin market. India is one of the biggest traders banning them will cause avalanche in the market. We can expect worse to it. Hoping it just like in South Korea news which turn out it was fake news.

The influence of policy on BTC is too great!
The development of BTC requires government policy support! But what about decentralization and the willingness of the government?
As time changes, countries will slowly open their policies and let BTC in!

It could be. Looks like the market it turning red again. India is still neutral as far as I'm concern. So its not banning crypto trading as of the moment. This is another FUD to create panic amongst us.


Short term, yes, it could really affect the market because of government closing its door to bitcoin or crypto in general. However, it didn't mean that its the end of bitcoin. Bitcoin has a proven record to recover from a market corrections. This is not something new that we haven't overcome. Another test, but long run bitcoin price will go up again.

No, it is not yet banned in India but yes banks have the right to freeze an account if they find any suspicious activity. However, it is true that your mind is sending notices to the people having high net-worth who are trading in Bitcoin but there is nothing to panic about it because we are not doing any illegal business but make sure that you are acquiring Bitcoins from legal sources or at least sources having accounted records that you can produce to the officials in case of scrutiny.

Trading in Bitcoins has become too risky in India. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has been issuing all sort of negative statements for the past one or two months (ever since they noticed that BTC has given 10x returns, making bank deposits very unattractive to the investors). Yesterday the tax authorities sent notices to almost 100,000 individuals they suspected of trading in BTC.

If I am right, Bitcoin is illegal in Nepal, right? Indian government has been warning about losing funds with investing in cryptos since 2014, neither illegal nor legal, a bit correct to an extent.  With being the second populist country in the world, not like China, there is too much unbanked and poverty population, and cryptos are just getting adopted. India ain't China, more of a democracy. They wouldn't like digitalized Indian youths who are already revoluting to piss off with a ban. I literally don't see a ban coming, more of regulations might be. Even if it comes down to ban, does it matter? Nope.

Well, here is the reliable news from CoinDesk so far.

Report: India's Government Sends Tax Notices to Cryptocurrency Traders

India's government has reportedly sent tax notices to cryptocurrency traders and investors following a nationwide survey.
According to Reuters, a survey found that Indian citizens conducted more than $3.5 billion worth of trades and other transactions across a 17-month period. The government also collected data from nine exchanges within the country, and per the report, notices have been issued to "tens of thousands of people."
As a result, India is now looking to tax capital gains, as well as receive information about how much people own in cryptocurrencies and where their funds are located.

https://www.coindesk.com/report-indias-government-sends-tax-notices-to-cryptocurrency-traders/

Because of this news, I don't think the Indian government is banning bitcoin trading rather impose new tax laws for bitcoin traders.

This is the result of misunderstand the cryptocurrency. Most of the governments all over the world thinks that it is a scam , a fraud or just a big bubble so they are trying to put limits on it to their citizens by banning it on their country. Sadly for India, their government take the negative approach already but i think they will pull the banning phase of bitcoin and will put a tax on it instead.

I do not understand the government that stopped trading bitcoin in a country. whether purely to provide benefits to the state or just a political game from the government. I think it is very harmful and does not give people the chance to succeed.

There is suspicious/illegal activities in the bank accounts of top 10 bitcoin exchanges in India. What does this say ??

There is nothing suspicious or illegal actives going on as these exchanges are running with all the norms and they are strict with their know your customer policy and recently they have shared all the information to the income tax department when they inquired about it and what i am certain is that Yes bank has frozen some accounts other than that i am not sure about other banks.

thats why we will see next dip ?
about this news seems price will go down again :(

let bitcoin grown

is it just me or whenever there is a news about some government banning bitcoin and trading of it (as long as it is real news not FUD) that means the trading volume from that country grows that much bigger?

currently i can see the Indian trading volume coming from exchanges and even localbitcoins-like websites is increasing day by day. the price is even higher there which shows there is a lack of BTC there and excess amount of fiat that wants to go into BTC which is buying it at a higher price!!!

Bitcoin is neither legal nor illegal in India.The difference is that if it’s a legal tender that means it is recognized in the country as a currency and can be freely accepted for payments and settlements. On the other hand, if it is not a legal tender that means that it may not be accepted for making a financial transaction. For instance, gold or a share certificate. These are not legal tenders but some people may accept it as they see value in it.We often confuse about this matter. But the matter is that it is neither legal nor illegal in India.

Perhaps the Indian government has only limited money laundering and alleged violations.
There was no information about the Indian government shutting down bitcoin exchanges and confirming bitcoin illegal.

So many countries are banning bitcoin. This is not good.

Billionaire "Warren Buffet" said "Bitcoin will end up badly"

The report reads freezing bank accounts of some major exchanges, nothing about Ban or any hint of future ban.

As you know every country is trying to regulate crypto same goes to india.
I don't think it is something like banning.
Everyone making fud in a simple news.

If India were to tax it, the news would surely be a fake.
I was worried for nothing. I thought today's decline was due to India fake.

The other article I read has Indian finance ministry has said "Bitcoin is fraudulent scheme"

Yes, they may have started to act against Bitcoin and force it into the legal corridor as well as pay a clear tax. As you can see, they are mostly forbidden for large tradable accounts because they suspect they are tax evasion, black trading, money laundering, etc. That is, small deals and low transaction accounts remain. can operate and participate in it. I do not believe they can stop Bitcoin altogether

The Indian government is full of idiots, who don't want more jobs and increased tax revenue in their country. Either they don't understand the benefits of Bitcoin, or they want the citizens to be exploited by the major banks and the money transfer firms. And also, tax evasion and hiding of wealth is a major issue in India (party due to the sky high income tax rates).

Nothing is ban..
Financial institutions in India are mandated to disclose such suspicious transactions to the financial intelligence unit.
It is not only the banking sector in India that has been scrutinizing the exchanges,due to this increased scrutiny by lawmakers and financial bodies,the past month has been particularly troublesome for Indian exchanges.
Most Indian exchanges that borrowed capital from financial institution did so in the hopes of raising an equivalent amount in private equity investment.

yes, I have heard this news before, even the punishment there is very assertive.
why does this happen? I think, because the Indian government is worried and afraid that its currency is threatened, and we know that the criminal volume in India is very high, then the Indian government thinks that bitcoin is a tool to commit crime. so they want to reduce criminals by means of preventive measures.

Though RBI has been issuing warnings asking investors to be cautious while dealing with cryptocurrencies (including bitcoin) , there has been no clear communication about Bitcoin trading being illegal. On the contrary, recently the I-T department has indicated that profits from crypto trading will be taxable under the IT laws, and also conducted surveys (not raids) on the major crypto exhcanges across India to verify if there were any tax evasion cases. Rather than being a deterrent, this actually came as a confidence booster for investors because the action seems to send out a message about crypto transactions being legally acknowledged. As a trend in India, we saw the prices go up instead of down after the news came out.

Further, if the Indian Govt. wanted to ban crypto, it would have done so long ago. Instead, the Govt. took a wait and watch approach, so India as an economy does not lose out on the opportunities arising from the cryptocurrency rally.