Bitcoin Forum

In India, Bitcoin is not a legal tender. But it is not explicitly termed as illegal. What is the reason for such a stand by Government? what are its implications?

Correctly said! It is not a legal tender in India means you can not use bitcoin to pay for services and goods you purchase from an Indian citizen. But they haven't ban it either because they simply don't have the infrastructure to do so. Even if Indian government bans bitcoin, people will still use it but the ultimate looser will be the government because they will loose out on tax part.

On the other hand, if the government legalize it, it will have to be considered as a legal tender which may bring significant outrage from the banks who are supporting the development of India through funding.

So the government has taken a midway. They have kept the window open for the willing taxpayers. This way they will not loose a significant amount on taxes as well as pacify the banks. But that's a temporary arrangement. The government is still waiting for the final report and recommendations from the committee they have formed to decide the impact of Cryptocurrency on India's economy.

Every news is negative to bitcoin now days. Even india says it is not legal tender as they have been saying since last year. However now FUD created that is why every news is hitting BTC very badly.

There are no implications. You can do trade and invest on crypto. That's why this news coming from India was sensationalized by the media and they put a spin out of it and people bought it and thought that India is banning crypto that causes the market to plummet.

So for now, let say that they are in neutral grounds. And sure that they are discussing the legality of bitcoin in India. The parliament have been looking at it since last year. I do hope that they will accept or at least regulate crypto and not just a complete ban as what other government are doing so.

It's like with many other countries. Bitcoin is a novelty and there are no laws regarding it. It's not illegal and it's not officially legal because nobody has bothered to make it legal or illegal yet. In some European countries it was made officially legal while some are regarding it as a harmless internet project that is not important enough for them to start the process of legislation, at least for now. It's all fine. If something isn't illegal it's legal. If there's no law saying you can't fly a drone in the city, it means that you can as long as you don't damage property or annoy people. It's the same with crypto.

Very rightly said - 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. So, if you invest in Bitcoin you fall in a “No man’s land”. According to the experts ““Not being legal tender is not the same as it being illegal,” explained Rishabh Sinha, a counsel at law firm TRA. “The difference is that if it’s a legal tender that means it is recognised 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.” Currently, there are no regulations on these virtual currencies. So, by emphasising that they are not legal, but without declaring them illegal, the government has put them in the grey zone.

Its very clear that bitcoin in india at present time not legally tender but may be its legally implemented in recent time as per the press meet of govt. agencies.

Hopefully, the government in India will make Bitcoin a recognized asset if it has no intention of making it as a currency. This can be the best treatment that the government can give that may satisfy those who are for its proliferation and those who are opposing it. I am expecting that eventually the Indian government will not be following the path taken by China on Bitcoin, ICOs, Bitcoin mining and cryptocurrency in general. They should learned on how Japan is treating Bitcoin and how it helped in its economy. In fact, this country can welcome some Bitcoin mining locators and collect taxes from them.

Indian Govt's stance is still the same as previously. Indian government has collected the investors data from all the local exchanges and sent notices to the people who traded with high amount. As per the local news, around 1 lac investors have received the notice from the authorities. If people failed to provide the required details like source of the money then they might be in trouble. They may face heavy penalties or authorities may ask them to pay the tax on the income from trading the coins. Maybe government is working on something to regulate the use of bitcoins and at the same time they wants to collect the revenue from the cryptocurrency market, in terms of tax.

   Indian government dreams to make bitcoin illigal but not able to act so. Authorities wish to control whole indian financial market but can not spy on more then 1.2 billion people. In case they ban bitcoin they will create huge underground market which makes chaos in indian society because millions of people will instantly become outlaws while jails are already full.
    Same in my country actually, people in power delay the law implementation, they are still thinking what to do

Yeah bitcoin is not a legal tender in India but it is still not officially banned in India either. The reason why it could be at stand by could be that they want to warn people who are trying to do scams or are trying to do money laundering . I think they Would not ban bitcoin but they would imply some restrictions which could eliminate the chances of fraud and money laundering.

I think bitcoin is not legal tender for india but new tender for india, they are working on it and I hope they will come up with solution of legality of bitcoin.

What kind of solutions do you think the government is eyeing for? What do you mean new tender? Personally, India will not make bitcoin and crypto legal, however, they might impose a tougher regulations. Remember they have to demonetized rupees for quite some time because they want to curb out the dirty money. So imagine what they gonna do with crypto's. I think its much better to see them regulated it the way other nations like South Korea is doing. India is a big market for bitcoin, if they decided against it, we will see another huge impact to the current market.  Let's see how it pans out, but I'm betting that they are not going to put a hammer ban.

I think the fear of money laundering and price volatility, as well, are two main reasons why Indian government dislike on the use of Bitcoin as legal tender. Well, if one has Bitcoins in his possession all he has to do is to convert/exchange it to fiat and not to fight the problem.

Is this discussion not done yet? I'm not sure that last time there are news that are guaranteeing that bitcoin isn't illegal in India. They are still confuse on where they will put bitcoin into their jurisdiction whether it's not a legal tender or not as long as they are not finalizing their certain law about bitcoin then Indians shouldn't worry about it.
Taxation, illegal use, protection, etc.

There are unconfirmed reports that India is considering a ban on Bitcoin. To be sure, there has been a lot of FUD about Bitcoin before in India, but it has been unsubstantiated. The only thing that the government has done is to 'warn' people about the risks of using cryptocurrencies. It has also unleashed the taxman on those who evaded taxes.

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/policy/will-modi-government-kill-bitcoin-for-its-own-lakshmi/articleshow/62833957.cms

It is said to be true that India is considering the bitcoin could be banned once the report is out which the govt is waiting for as many things for them is not in control and they cannot regulate this space. Instead it is possible that government will bring their own coin and which they will regulate and only can be a legal in India.

This government has proven itself to be a bunch of fools. At first, they were saying that Bitcoin investment is very risky but it is not banned. Now once the prices went up, they want all the money from the investors. NDA is going down in 2019. The UPA was 100 times better.

That's logical. Government cannot say legal officially if they say they indirectly bring problems to country's fiat at least as of now.

Who cares about India anyway? We survived the exchange ban in China, and IMO any negative government action in India doesn't even come close. I am more concerned about other countries such as Japan, Russia, South Korea, United States and the European Union.

Indian goverment joined the host of other countries officials making statements
that are vague and that are only implying things,but ,coincidentally, all of them are negative
and are influencing the markets ina bad way,causing bearish tendencies
I do not think it is something random,you can see for yourself,the price fluctuations have to be explained
and there come "negative" news from South Korea,India,Singapore-all timed perfectly
the market is being manipulated and this is pretty obvious
India said nothing new,the legal stance hasn't changed a bit,not a legal tender,bears risk,not illegal

India have huge population and hi tech where people are more aware then other middle east countries. If they ban bit coin that can impact hard on BTC where as if they allow as legal tender than I think BTC will have support from one more country.

I read somewhere that India thought to bring a tax to Bitcoin.I think the minds are mixed, they do not know what they do :D

Central Board of Direct Taxes said: “We feel that it is all taxable (https://goo.gl/hfhL3T).” :D

In India, bitcoin is the people’s forbidden fantasy.Cryptocurrencies barring bitcoin are gaining popularity in India.

There a various reasons for this standby statement. INDIA has developing economy which implies that they need to match themselves with world trend and tech in order to grow. SO INDIA is looking at world's developed economic Powers like Japan, USA before making any decision. Moreover, to completely BAN Bitcoin it needs really efficient tech. and infrastructure which INDIA does have at this point of time. Therefore, INDIAN Govt is taking midway and waiting for final report of the committee formed to analysis the impact of crypto on country's economy.

Maybe they still reviewing the Bitcoin characteristic very carefully as if Bitcoin is feasible and safe to the nation interest in which is very normal if the government is concern to the country and to its people that it might they become at risk like scam and fraud sites. Anyway, Bitcoin is not ban then they should not waste time of this opportunity to join Bitcoin investment without tax because if the government realized the important of Bitcoin and regulate then your Bitcoin will be reduce due to taxation.

Hope that the given situatuion will change dramatically in the neares future.

Hope that the given situatuion will change dramatically in the nearest future.

India is already making regulations.They are finalizing on who the regulatory body will be.And they'll call it "cryptoassets", since no currency except INR is allowed.Indian politicians and bureaucrats are some of the most corrupt in the world. They collude with each other and swindle the nation of billions of rupees regularly. Bitcoin regulation is an absolute must there.

Most idiots have misinterpreted the Prime minister's statement.He had said that if India manages to bring back all the black money,it would be equivalent to Rs.1.5 million per person of the country.All I know is if I ever visit India I'm getting one of those head massages that the barbers give.

Care to share the links?


That's why I don't understand about people's reading comprehension today specially in crypto. It seems that they have totally lost it. Every articles that comes up has to be interpreted into something different making them panic. But if only they would learn to understand and read between the line, they would totally understand that India is not banning crypto's as per the Prime Minister himself.

Well recently theres a news about banning bitcoin in India but after that their decision is just to regulate it so they can still collect taxes, for me this idea is quiet ok and adopting this kind of new technology will surely gives some good benefit to its people and also to their economy.

Simply we can say that we can trade Bitcoin on any platform or exchange but we cannot pay it for any goods or services in India. It's implication is government may bound you to pay taxes on profit you earned on trade of Bitcoin. Indian government has set a committee who will research on cryptocurrency after that report all picture will clear. Thanks.

Yeah I think this can’t give much affect on the cryptomarket but we have to consider the population of India that can be a good market in the future. Every country will matter for me cause I believe if they accept bitcoin some country may also think to fully accept it, who knows India can become a huge volume of user with cryptocurrency.

Well the government think that bitcoin is a threat on the people of india and a lot of people see bitcoin as a scam or a ponzi scheme , which is not true I gathered some information and the link I got is down below feel free to look at and tell me what you think about it?.

Link: https://beta.techcrunch.com/2018/02/03/psa-no-india-hasnt-banned-bitcoin-but-its-still-talking-tough-on-crypto/

I think the problem with India is that it depends on loans. Bankers do not want to promote cryptocurrencies to the masses. After China, India is the second most populous country. The ambiguous attitude of the Chinese government to the cryptocurrency hinders the promotion of bitcoin. Perhaps the bankers spent a lot of money to buy this position of the Indian government.

As of now, Bitcoin is not yet announced as legal or illegal. Its welcomed and used by many citizens of the same country. We have just heard, the government has started discussing with the Reserve bank of India to launch a new altcoin Lakshmi. Followed by it, a business man from India has formed a team under his son and working on launching a new crypto coin called Jiocoin and its services.

Maybe India is important in the sense that this can be a big market and can easily compensate what we lost in China. In cryptocurrency the more holders and buyers the better it can be for the sustainability of the coin and can help push its value. We need all countries that are interested to be a part of the Bitcoin bandwagon. I can sense that eventually after all the discussions in India, the country will eventually allow Bitcoin under a strictly regulated environment. The same thing can happen in Russia...these countries are taking the time to learn and to talk about Bitcoin further before making the final decision on the matter. It is their right and we have to wait.

So Indian government is not confident about the Bitcoin, i heard that they are collecting taxes on Bitcoin trading. How can they collects the taxes without legalising it, bitcoin is not legal tender but we will collect taxes on it those who trades.

Fears that a new underground currency could replace the black money hole and further undermine the economic legitimacy of the state have long been circulated by the Reserve Bank of India, and earlier this month Indian banks began to freeze the accounts of those using bitcoin exchanges across the country.

Exactly, this midway path chosen by the Indian Government is just a temporary decision. While the final decision is yet awaited. That's for sure the government of India won't ever want to lose on the extra income in the form of taxes, so banning it totally would not be smart move, of course. Accepting the bitcoin as a medium of exchange in the country would be a big step and since India is yet not a developed county and it is a developing country, I don't think such a big decision would be taken in great haste!!

This is the irony of being a Bitcoin user in India. Bitcoin is not de jure illegal in India, but the government is harassing anyone whom they suspect of using Bitcoin. And at the same time, they want the users to pay income tax if they are profiting out of the Bitcoin trade.

We have news that the RBI authority has planned to launch its own crypto currency called Lakshmi. The talk is in progress. Another business personality has said that they have formed a team with his son's responsibility and discussing to launch their own coin called jiocoin. So India is almost started welcoming crypto into its country.  Hope in an year,  there will be coins from Indian side.

in india bitcoin is still not legal.

India is not collecting any specific taxes for the crypto currency earnings they are just collecting the income taxes from their earnings irrespective of where it comes from,so your statement is wrong that India is harassing the crypto currency users.But now India is in the legalizing process by adding their identity to the local exchanges but still there is no taxes implemented yet.

Yes. Bitcoin is yet to be announced as legal currency in India. Reserve bank of India has said that its working on to create its own crypto currency called Lakshmi. An another business man has formed a team to under his son's responsiblitly to work on launching a new crypto currency called Jiocoin. Such moves indicate that Indian government is going to welcome crypto currencies.

Andhra Pradesh has become the first state in India to pilot blockchain technology in two departments and plans to deploy it across the administration, said Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on 9 October. Addressing Blockchain Business Conference here, he said the state had also created the largest repository of used cases for global start-ups to test their solutions.

Naidu said since the state was leading in e-governance, it was using blockchain technology to address cyber security issues.

The state launched pilot projects for land records and transport. State Information Technology Minister Nara Lokesh said the technology was required to prevent tampering of land records, which had already been digitised and placed online. Similarly, the technology is used in Transport Department to streamline titles of the vehicles.
Stating that Andhra accounts for 60 percent of Aadhaar-based transactions and extensively uses technology for delivery of services, Lokesh said the state required blockchain to protect the IT assets.

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.

I hope that this helps you in some way.

Yes, it is right that bitcoin is not appreciable in India now a days. It is not legal to purchase goods via bitcoins. But , it is considerable in the future by the Government to develop the country.

In India bitcoin is neither legal nor banned. But people in India use bitcoin. Bitcoin is not allowed to use for payment instead of local fiat. That is we cannot buy things using bitcoin. Indian government is in neutral in cryptocurrency.  But they keep an eye about the transaction through bitcoin. But in future surely it will be announced as legal. If it is announced as legal Indian government has tremendous growth in economically. And the Indian government is also on the way to create own cryptocurrency called Lakshmi. The process is undergoing if it comes we don't know about bitcoin status in India.

This means that Bitcoin is not declare legal but not ban in India. So therefore you should not wasting time and make this opportunity to earn more Bitcoin without tax as sooner or later Bitcoin might declare legal because the governments is now considering the regulation of this investments in which soon every Bitcoin you will earn will be subject for taxation as per regulation policy.

Yes true I agree with the lack of clarity government this be a good opportunity to purchase BTC more and can be earned to miss more. when later after the government to give your tax will be thinking of buying BTC.

Well there was a case pending in the Supreme Court to challenge RBI circular. So yes India is still in the middle and we only wish that it will not be ban but just regulate it just like other countries. Again, India is a good market so government clamping on crypto will be a big setback to the ecosystem in short term. Plus the Supreme court's decision is good indication that somewhat the Government is very fair but I'm sure the case will be drag for many years. So let's hope for a fair trial so that everyone in India can transact with their banks again using crypto.

In india still bitcoin should be considered as legal. People in india use bitcoin to solve their basic needs. In india it would give job for many people. But the RBI just announced that stop the account of the people who made transactions using bitcoin. But people in india use trading to trade bitcoin buy and sell. Now there is no tax for buying bitcoin use this chance to buy more bitcoin. Otherwise if government announces tax we cannot able to buy at that time.

In india bitcoin is to be considered as legal. There is no offcial announcements about bitcoin banning. People using bitcoins in india as their main income. India also ready to launch its own new coin. Government has analyze about this cryptocurrency. If it is launched in india automatically bitcoin is legal in india also. Lets wait for the changes to come. Using bitcoin we can earn more profit.

You can buy anything in India with bitcoin but governments doesn't accept crypto currencies for any kind of payment yet but in future they may reconsider their status about it.Many of the politicians from India are uneducated that is why they calling bitcoin as ponzi scheme,first of all they need to have some experts to create the positive and negativities for their government if they allow bitcoin then only they can decide whatever is good for their country.

Currently in India it is not a legal tenders means you can not use Bitcoin to pay for services goods you purchase from an indian citizen but they have not ban it because presently. They don't have infrastructure to do so.

In india bitcoin is not legal but at the same time it is not banned. RBI of indian government just asked the banks to stop the accounts of the person who made transaction for bitcoin.  But we cannot use bitcoin for any purchase in india. Indian government will have an idea to create own coin so they didnt banned the bitcoin. People are using bitcoin as their investment. So make this chance to invest in bitcoin and gain more income.
 

Well, Indians have suffered some bad news recently. The Supreme Court has refused to grant them their plea on the ban of exchange between fiat and crypto. That's very bad to hear in this times but anyways we hope a redemption comes soon.

I have been to India a few times and there are a lot of options for the Indians to exchange between crypto and fiat. But now it is going to be risky, as the government may be screening all the crypto users.

Things are pretty complicated in India . Its not illegal but all the withdraws by the banks are stopped nby the India's main bank called RBI and all the banks under RBI . This is a major drawback among all the users back in India and there are a lot of them .
The next verdict is on JULY 20TH , but things seems out og hand for now.

the popularity of bitcoin in India is very rapid from the beginning of the Indian rejection of crypto because they have their own digital assets made by their own country who hope to be able to compete in the world industry which in the end bitcoin development is a bit hampered and it must really have permission to use it

Crypto currency and India are not on good terms with each other!1 This is what I feel. Whenever there  is a highlight from India regarding bitcoin or the crypto currency market, you'll never be hearing a good to go news. In fact what you get to hear most of the times is that the central bank of the country banned dealings in crypto, or an Indian wallet to stop crypto encashment into fiat,...blah...blah!! What the government of the country is upto is out of my thinking, because it is unable to determine which side to choose. It has chosen the midway corridor and let the situation so much vague for its citizens as well.

The decline in bitcoin prices follows investor concerns over regulatory upgrading in India and potential price manipulation in some major exchanges.

The legal status of Bitcoin in India is still not clear.No doubt that digital exchanges are not allowed to work.A temporary stay has been imposed on them.This is due to the case filed by RBI against these exchanges.The decision will be made on the next hearing that is on 11th of september 2018.Then we will come to know that whether these exchanges will work or not.So we can't say that Bitcoin is illegal in India.It is just a temporary stay on the exchanges imposed by the supreme court.

There should be a good change in the coming months after the last hearing in supreme court. Bitcoin may be cobsidered as a commodity in future in India. This qould be most welcimed where instead of prohibiting, accepting bitcoin to be an asset. This could develope the nation as well as will not intrupt banking system.

I think what it mean is simply there is restriction on the uses of bitcoin but whoever involve in the transaction of bitcoin does that at it own risk if at all. It could be further said that government put no task on bitcoin transaction or trading in India since it is individual choice.

bitcoin transactions come with a series of risks of their own. However, given this background, one can not conclude that bitcoin is illegal, so far, there has been no ban of bitcoin in India.

I think the Indian government is backtracking now. They've realized what an impossible task banning the currency would be, and how it would actually make them look weak in the long run because they wouldn't be able to enforce it, so they're starting to weigh other options.

Think about it. How can a government effectively ban crypto? Even China, with its cyber police and great firewall couldn't stop it completely. There's always a way around it, and if anything, a complete ban will only make the citizens more curious about it. Then they'd start finding easy ways to invest in it, and their children in the west will start sending remittances with it.

Indian government did not accept bitcoin as legal affair
There are discussion continued that to accept bitcoins or  reject bitcoins
After a strong discussion it will be accepted as legal affair and future is very bright for bitcoin

So they are allowing the use of bitcoin or cryptocurrency today? So if people in India found out that they can legally, well not legally, able to use bitcoin or cryptocurrencies for payments without tax then they might use it more often.

How then will they not lose a significant amount in taxes?

The exchange and other business transactions in cryptocurrency will no longer have access to banking services under the ban, which means traders will be banned from attracting rupees through the business. So that the ban on bitcoin is likely to be implemented soon.

Yeah if we can survive China, I'm sure the fuss over India won't last long. The Chinese government is quite stringent about capital controls and limiting capital flight, even the kinds of websites you can visit. India isn't nearly as well equipped, although I do hear that they're getting better and better at tracking their own citizens (which must be hard in that kind of environment!)

It looks like a false flag to scare their people away from it. Does anyone really think that a government can stop bitcoin on their own? People will still transact in cash and sidestep anyone who tries to stand in their way.

this is almost the same as some countries, the state does not prohibit bitcoin if its status is the same as gold or silver and others, but it cannot be used in the sale and purchase or payment tool, which ultimately the community in this case they only invest their money the same thing they buy gold, but the difference in bitcoin has its own advantages.

Supreme court is yet to hear the last hearing from exchanges. Hope to get a positive news after the hearing. There is an expectation that India will consider bitcoin as one of the commodities. If this happens then well and good.

I think that in India in the near future things will change for the better. Recently, a special commission set up by the Government of India concluded that bitcoin could be considered a means of payment, that is, act as money. This dramatically changes the situation in favor of the crypto currency. It remains to wait until the government draws up such a decision with its normative act.

Current situation of bitcoin is not yet confirmed as legal or illegal. But RBI earlier announced that crypto transactions should not go through the banks tied up with RBI. Indian government will have an idea to create its own crypto currency. Hope RBI comes with good decision.

Is this for real? When I look on localbitcoins.com it looks like a graveyard in India. No one is trading anymore. A friend of mine said he got in touch with a local agency buying and selling for 12.5% commission. That's absurd! Probably because the banks are afraid to touch it.

Does anyone know if people are still exchanging crypto inside of the country? Or have they all fled to Bangladesh and Nepal?

Everything is in the hands of India's Supreme Court now in which they will finally will decide the future of Bitcoin legitimacy on the month of September of this year. We will hope that their decision will favor the acceptance of Bitcoin as this will help the market to rise specially now that the price is currently dropping. Here is the link for our reference https://www.ccn.com/breaking-indias-supreme-court-sets-september-date-for-final-cryptocurrency-petition-hearing/.

the legality of bitcoin in India is starting to improve and the Indian government is trying to regulate it by presenting taxes, bitcoin investors will now need to pay taxes on their income. Nonetheless, significant ambiguity still exists regarding the taxable nature of cryptocurrency, because of its unique ability to resemble security and currency.

the Indian government is clearly well aware of the importance of digital currencies, and they are still studying the workings of that currency, even in the future the Indian government makes their own digital currency, so it is very unlikely the government will ban the bitcoin distribution, but they still have not agreed to use to be a legitimate means of exchange in addition to protecting the value of their own currency as well as the government is still in the exploratory time to use the currency cryptocurrency.