Bitcoin Forum

According to a recent publication from bitcoin.com, Kali Digital Eco-Systems, the company behind the upcoming crypto currency exchange "Coin Recoil", has appealed to the High Court in Delhi against the recent crackdown on banks providing services to bitcoin related companies by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). It argues that the ban is unconstitutional on two main grounds.

Article 19 of the Constitution of India guarantees citizens’ rights to carry on any occupation, trade or business. But by preventing exchanges’ access to baking services the government is in affect preventing people from engaging in the business of their choice.

Article 14 prohibits discrimination based on arbitrary and unreasonable classification. The petition explains that the RBI did not provide a clear definition of what constitutes ‘virtual currency’ and that this ambiguity dilutes any reasonability in what may be alleged as a classification.

I say, at least someone has the guts to do it! So if you see the change, be the change and sign this online petition for a better India!

Sign here: https://www.change.org/p/rbi-make-india-at-the-forefront-of-blockchain-applications-revolution

News source: https://news.bitcoin.com/indian-exchange-takes-central-bank-to-court-over-bank-ban/

This is the right decision. But I don't believe the Indian court will rule against the government. You don't think the Central Bank made this decision on its own, do you? The court will name a million reasons that it is impossible to trace the origin of bitcoins by standard methods and for this reason it can not be recognized as a currency and therefore banks can not perform exchange operations.

The courts are independent of government so there is no need to support the governments are banks decision,there are so many times Supreme court of India make decision against the governments rule so there is chance for the bank to revise their decision about crypto if it got enough petition from the citizen.

Woah, it looks like they actually have a solid case against the banking ban. I mean, crypto isn't even illegal there so it was clearly an unreasonable decision in the first place. I'm looking forward to a favorable ruling.


Yeah, this truly is concerning but the Supreme Court is in a different branch of the government in India, so it doesn't necessarily have to side with the executive and/or legislative. That means there is hope, no matter how small, that they can reach a favorable ruling despite powerful parties pulling the strings.

Great news. I thought that Indians will not do something about the ban and they will just let these banks dominate their behavior and decision of banning crypto transactions.

That Article 19 of India's institution looks favorable to the complainant/s.

Yes that is a great news still people have the rights to ask what they needed because India is a democratic country but still the results maybe in the favour of government side unless there were large number if petitions were recorded against this rule so all the Indians make the petition and the link is available at OP.

The only thing that does actually concern me a bit, is the fact that because of it being a different category, banks for themselves could decide what to do and what not, so how will we fight a bank for ruling its own platform?

How will one open a case against a bank being totally in right when it comes to its own way of doing business? It's a clear sign that we should seriously rethink what banks stand for, and distance ourselves from them.

At first you have the central bank playing a role of importance, and then the banks as separate entities as well. Too many potentially negative variables involved to become a reliable partner for an exchange.

I would say that finally, someone really stood up on their ground when the governments interfere on their rights. Someone has the courage to do it and i can say that he did the right thing. It should be fair to everyone when prohibiting something to them specially when they choose what kind of field of works they want to. I want to know more about of this news and what would be the bank will going to do about this matter.

Well,this is a great news for the Crypto enthusiast people of India in which they could have a fair fight with the Central bank in which the High court is a independent governing body of the government in which their final decision or verdict shall be obey and respect by the other branches of the government such as their central bank. If they will win the fight then it will be a good timing because India could be an additional support to the market in which it is now starting to pump.

They actually have a point based on the section of the constitution they quote but there is no need to be joyous over it because the real outcome to be joyous over is a matter of interpretation by the people who would likely not be youths, but who have done things the same way for ages for decades and if they make decision that is in favor of crypto, its going to be a great embarrassment to the government.

The same constitution that guarantees freedom of association, freedom of movement also stops anyone from joining groups against the state, also stop individual from walking into government facilities without authorisation despite the freedom of movement.  The point is, its a matter of interpretation and what they should have done is to ask for an injunction pending the determination of the suit then stall as much as possible in other to have the population to influence the decision.

It seems that India is turning conservative against technological revolution, yes its very unconstitutional to just cut relations between banks and crypto industry without a proper forum. Cryptocurrency and blockchain is not against the state or anything, its a breakthrough and technological phenomena that will replace the current outdated system that we used everyday.

They can use articles in their constitution as their legal standing but so as the RBI can use other articles it their constitution as defense. Obviously this will always go down on how the judge will translate their own constitution. Like what I said RBI will also use the constitution and if their argumet is better than what a business is praying for then they might side with their own reserve bank.

RBI will most likely use a defense structured in topics like :

• Indian Rupee is the only official currency of India
• Crytpcurrency is being used for criminal activities therefore it is a threat to national security
• It will hinder our economy

I am glad that someone is questioning this crackdown on banks, some of the exchanges stopped dealing with INR on hearing the notification and India being a Democratic country we the people have the rights and let the voice of the common man be heard and i have filed the petition and hopefully we will see more support from the bitcoin community.

Something of this sort was expected to happen!! And it is good to see that somebody had the courage to take up the initiative. Also to mention that India has an independent judiciary, so the government of India cannot override the decision made by the judicial system until that very decision is within the provisions of the Constitution of India. So if the courts find this appeal rational and within the purview of law, decision might be taken in the favour of the filing authority.

But  there are a lot of other things to be considerd here as well. If the courts do not find this appeal as correct and pass a judgement against it, then the scenario might become quite risky. Because you never know what will be the final decision if the court after this hearing. And in case a permanent ban is imposed, the situation will worsen to a further higher level.

Read about it more: http://menafn.com/1096746659/Crypto-Corner-Indian-Startup-Challenges-Central-Bank-NY-AG-Asks-Exchanges-for-Transparency-and-Coinone-to-Open-in-Indonesia

I'm so glad that Kali Digital Eco-Systems has taken the first step towards statement issues by the RBI against cryptocurrency businesses. What's shameful of the RBI is that it's making it too obvious that they can't handle how cryptocurrencies will no longer be under their supervision and they'll have little or no control over the participants exchanging cryptocurrencies. There must be transparency and lawfulness with regards to how Central agencies can pass laws. There was never any transparency regarding the panelists involved in deciding their public statements and no public opinion was really taken with regards to accepting cryptocurrencies for businesses. I hope Kali wins this one out on the grounds of Article 19 and I'm hoping to see RBI lay appropriate regulatory procedures for cryptocurrency businesses and to revert back their strict policies for banks to provide their services to such businesses and their customers using credit cards to procure cryptocurrencies.

Despite what is in the public eye on their legal system - and I'm not saying it's great, there's a lot of horrendous shit going on with human rights there - India's really been progressive with the way citizens have been able to use the law for greater transparency. Europe still lags behind and has picked up on India's Right to Informations Act successfully brought to pass more than 10 years ago. They might yet pave the way for more legal precedent with blockchain in the coming years, and this might be seen as the first step towards that.

Good one on them, even if this still only benefits the upper middle class.

They have their own rights to defend and ask that will benefit the majority.

We don't need to do anything now but let's all hope that the results will be positive and when the news comes out that way. Let's see on how the market will react.

 India has to find its own space in the world of crypto currencies.
Outright bans are not solutions , as the technology will catch up.

As a country trying to encourage entrepreneurship, crypto currencies offer an excellent way for entrepreneurs to access international markets.

I doubt that the market will get affected much, especially so if we take into consideration that their initial announcement hasn't really lead to anything of noteworthy nature. I don't really care much about what the market does with this news, and I seriously hope it won't do anything, but I do care about how people there and businesses are affected by this barbary, which should stop as soon as possible. Financial institutions decide for us what we can do and what we can't, which is horrible -- this goes straight against everything that's stimulating a fair and honest market/wealth development. If you as government want an increase in poverty, then this is definitely the path to follow....

I know how slow these Indian courts are in passing down the judgement. This case will most probably go on for 10-15 years and by the time we get a verdict Bitcoin may not even exist.

I think the articles are not specific on the subject matter and fact in issue. The case or court might order that status quo be maintained until an amendment of the article is completed. If this happens, the status quo will imply that business continues until the government is specific on the forbidding or not of bitcoin.



But if bitcoin does not exist, other altcoin might take over because they are all cryptocurrency unless you are guessing cryptocurrency itself won't exist anymore.

Banks are the service providers. The basic idea of banking is to get deposits from common people and lend that money to the businesses and earn the difference in interest. That's the basic business idea of a bank. With time, it has increased its reach and deepened the root in the society. But we all know nothing can be flawless. I strongly believe that Darwin's theory is also applicable in the business world. If a business model can't cope up with the changing demand of the market, it will be obsolete. Banks were the backbone of the financial system of the society since decades, because we didn't have much other options in hand. However, now we have crypto currency and we are not anymore dependent on the bank for moving our money. Banks are picking up unnecessary fight just to maintain their relevance in the financial system. Instead they should explore options to adopt the crypto currency for a better future and to stay within the competition.  

So banks can't decide things alone. They have to match with the demands of the time. The famous freedom fighter of India, Mahatma Gandhi once said "First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win". History may repeat, you never know!

Here is the recent development on the case:
https://cointelegraph.com/news/india-delhi-high-court-seeks-response-from-central-bank-on-recent-crypto-ban-report-says

So until that case time the rule will be followed or not?

I think if some case at the court then the rule issued by the government will be void so people can use it as long as the case is in pending right?

But don't think bitcoin will extinct in some years this is going to be the future currency. >:(

Here is the latest development on the case:

Indian Supreme Court denied to issue interim injunction to RBI on the decision of crypto ban. The next hearing date is tomorrow, 17 May 2018.

News source: https://bcfocus.com/news/supreme-court-of-india-favors-rbi-restrictions-on-cryptocurrency-by-denying-interim-injunction/9039/

I encourage everyone to follow the twitter handle of Crypto Kanoon to get all latest development news on this case. They are a group of lawyers who have been engaged by the petitioners to handle this case.

Twitter profile: https://twitter.com/cryptokanoon

I will keep checking on the progresses made in this case and keep the thread updated!

The Supreme court of India has ordered to consolidate all petitions against the RBI regarding the crypto ban circular. Next hearing date is July 20, 2018. However, the court refuses to put stay on the circular and says it is still in force until the court comes to a conclusion. Here is the picture of some of the court cases filed by various petitioners.

https://i.imgur.com/fAOCJmS.jpg

There are many other pending cases which will be consolidated with the main petition.

Information and picture courtesy: CryptoKanoon Twitter handle.  

Thanks for the latest update mate. I just find it weird that Indian Supreme Court denied a injunction filed by the petitioner. Usually this is the last resort of petitioner to at least put a halt on RBI circulation but it looks like win for RBI despite efforts by the petitioner. So it going to be a long battle and I think this will really make or break the Indian crypto community. The result will have a dramatic impact, so right now we should just sit back and watch how everything unfolds but we all hope that the outcome will be favorable not just for the Indian community but everyone who have been involved in crypto globally.

You are right Amit! Even I am surprised that the court has denied an interim injunction on the RBI directive. But you know, Indian courts are not run by tech geeks, so I doubt they will understand the positive impact of crypto currency on the economy. So we can expect very little from them. Sadly, our country is run by religious leaders, so you can expect new temples to be built in no time, but when it comes to technological advancements, they turn blind to overcome their own incapability to understand technical things. A lot depends on this case, really! Lets just hope for the best!

At last, those changes many people were looking for happened.

It's sad indeed that ignorance prevents certain countries from experiencing a massive economical boost, which in case of India is something they actually need to progress further. In some cases the cocky attitude of well developed countries is somewhat understandable, but you would expect countries with weaker economies to use everything in their advantage, but instead, they keep blocking progress, which is a damn shame. It just shows how little they care about allowing their country to move forward, where some times I even have the impression that they don't even want it to move forward. Not sure if India is one of them, but it wouldn't really surprise me.


There is nothing anymore to lose, but only to gain. If it turns out positively, it won't only be a victory for India, but for crypto in its entirety.

The announcement of this transaction ban makes the virtual currency exchange rate chaotic. Because the policy taken by the government is beyond the prediction of the observers. People who have a virtual currency are predicted to soon withdraw their virtual money before its value continues to fall.

The governments feel that it is a balancing act - there is a chance that Bitcoin could provide an economical boost, or it could be a useful tool for tax evaders. The government is taking the safe route and letting the central bank do the action of squeezing Bitcoin.

Another development in the case. Even though it is not actually a development but a sad case. MoneyTradeCoin, who was one of the beneficiaries of the court case filed against RBI circular of banning crypto currencies from the banking sector, has been busted by Mumbai Police in investigation of a ponzi fraud scheme of over 500 Cr.

The police reportedly said that, "The accused allegedly posed as representatives of the Union Finance Ministry and had also prepared fake identity cards to cheat people". Even though I personally want to remove the cheaters and fraudsters from the crypto ecosystem, this particular case made us weak because this company was one of the beneficiaries of the court case.

News link: https://www.ndtv.com/mumbai-news/thane-rs-500-crore-cryptocurrency-scam-busted-in-maharashtras-thane-over-25-000-cheated-1862825

yes,this is sad and it can make them to think that all of us are scammer. :-\

But I hope this case still have some other person to run by to get the victory on the crypto side because India is one of the biggest nation in Asia so other countries may follow their decision about the crypto currencies.On the pther side there were some news spreading that India is going to implement 18% taxes on crypto trading which is true?

Update post:

Internet And Mobile Association of India mentioned its petition before Supreme Court vacation bench on 22nd May. Urgency was cited because of 5th July deadline from RBI & the Supreme Court fixed the matter for hearing on 3rd July. Also Indian Crypto Regulatory framework almost prepared. Inter-disciplinary Committee to discuss a draft in the 1st week of July. Likely to wrap up the work by 15th July.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DgT7plcW0AEmSK6.jpg

News source: https://twitter.com/cryptokanoon

Yeah, to me it's definitely an unfair thing for the central bank to do.

It is essentially using its power to wipe out any competitiveness that bitcoin has over its subsidiary banks, which is obviously in my opinion not ethical. It is also discriminating against all crypto exchanges in that regard, again, something that is probably not ethical either. Legally I don't know, but it certainly constitutes as discrimination against some form of business.

Not sure about whether or not this will end up as anything positive for the exchanges, as they probably have very little chance at winning any cases. But it's definitely good for themselves and for the bitcoin community there.

I too agree with the statement that what central bank is doing, is not ethical. They are using their power to stop the crypto currency in India to maintain its significance in monetary system of India. However, the Supreme Court of India has pre-poned the hearing date and the case will be heard by them tomorrow, i.e. 3rd July. I will keep a track on the updates and share with the community here. Lets just hope for the best.

Latest Update on the case:

1. Supreme court refuses to put a stay order on the RBI directive.
2. Court directed RBI to provide reasons for the Banking Ban within next 7 days.
3. Next hearing date is 20th July, 2018.
4. Mr. Sandeep Goenka (Co-founder Zebpay), will move to the Supreme Court on 5th July as a separate petition to obtain stay order against RBI circular.

Still hopeful! Lets see how the event unfolds.

Thanks for the update, I wasn't expecting this at all. The Supreme Court's generally been quite objective about the law and ensuring private entities, or govt bodies, don't take singular approaches. That the bank actually admitted it had no grounds for the ban (because it never took up on the research it was supposed to do beforehand) I thought was the case closer.

I don't think the 20th hearing will change anything, but perhaps with regulations coming, they just want that to fall in place first.

This case is a good thing to win! Since crypto is a good thing to fight for, as one of the users I believe in its possibilities that it will help us progress for the better future and it goes well on what technology we have.

It's a good thing that these crypto exchanges are fighting back, imo.

They have the right to operate their business within India. Bitcoin isn't even illegal. There is no reason for the central bank to demand all the commercial banks of India to cease support of all bitcoin transactions all of a sudden.


This will be an extremely interesting case to watch imo. If the court can stay unbiased and open minded, then there is a pretty good chance that we may see the regulation be repealed. However, I would still not be very optimistic at this stage.

Crypto exchanges are extremely worried about their business and they are even considering to take their business outside the jurisdiction of India if the court case fails for them. At this point I sincerely wish if my country was a little less corrupted. Here the court runs as per the government's wish. With the current government busy in creating religious chaos, I expect very little from them. Especially when the court denied any interim injunction. We can only pray to GOD at this point. I don't see much hope left in this case, really!

New update on the case (20 July 2018):

On the last hearing the Supreme Court of India ordered the regulatory authorities like Finance Ministry and SEBI etc. to present their view on the case. However, few of them have not yet provided any view yet. So the court ordered them to provide their view within next 4 weeks and the final judgement will be passed on 11 September 2018. If these authorities fail to provide their views within the prescribed timeline, court will still go ahead and hear the argument on 11 September 2018 before passing a final judgement.

News source: https://twitter.com/cryptokanoon

The hearing of this case was postponed the other day by the Supreme Court of India on September 11. On this day, the final decision on several motions regarding the prohibition by the Reserve Bank of the country of its subordinated banks to have any financial relations with the crypto-currency exchanges about the crypto currency should be announced on this day. Let's see, while the chances of success of such a referral are available.

I have read that crypto currency exchanges in India are not working.A temporary stay has been imposed on them.A hearing was held on 5th july in order to decide whether this stay will continue or not but the decision was against these exchanges. Next hearing was held on 20th july in order to decide whether these exchanges will work or not but no decision was taken regarding this.A next date is given  i.e. 11-09- 2018 on which the decision will be  made.Now we just have to wait for the decision.

The crypto exchanges are working. The ban is on the bank account so you can't sell your coins and withdraw that money to your bank account. However, there is no issues in coin to coin exchange and everything is working fine. That is because the RBI ban is in effect currently as the Supreme Count has denied to issue a stay order on the RBI circular.

However, the p2p market is still going strong through localbitcoins or localethereum platform. Just make sure to trade within a smaller limit and don't suddenly transact big money which doesn't match with your usual holding pattern. 

Are there physical limits in place when it comes to LocalBitcoins? I have seen people from the US complain about sudden AML/KYC procedures while their use pattern hasn't changed at all.

It seems to be a problem mainly focusing on users from the US considering that I don't see many other users complain about similar issues. It could be a sign that the US is trying to crack down on local economies.

LocalBitcoins was to go-to source for people avoiding exchanges, but has become somewhat of a target for authorities. The only positive side to this is that it will fuel development of decentralized platforms.

If there is a good thing that would benefit the mass and people would continue to have benefited from it then there is really a reason to fight it for! Voice it out! They should just make a resolution or regulation to avoid people from making a crime

Update post: 11th September 2018

The matter was initially listed to be heard by the court today but due to some other lengthy matter, the crypto petitions are adjourned for tomorrow, i.e. 12th September 2018.

In the meantime, I encourage you all to see the video in the below mentioned tweet to know more about the status of the case where the advocate talks about the case,

https://twitter.com/cryptokanoon/status/1039554726772269057?s=19

I will keep the thread updated with tomorrow's outcome!

Most likely, the matter will again be delayed until November because the court is still waiting for answers from various Indian regulatory authorities.

steps taken from banks in India are only a strategy, by banning crypto currency transactions, seeing the development of the crypto currency which is very fast and has the potential to replace all existing currencies in the world, so the bank wants to take advantage of it, the bank may want regulate the rotation of the currency and try to take advantage of the buying and selling process.

Update post: 13 September 2018

The court could not hear the crypto case due to some other lengthy matter. The crypto case is likely to be heard on Tuesday i.e 18 September 2018. That's a common practice in India.

News source:
https://twitter.com/cryptokanoon/status/1040157507111530496?s=19

Couldn't put it any better. One of my Indian friends had a dispute regarding property ownership and the legal fight went on for more than two decades. Finally, both the parties reached an agreement. Else it would have carried on for many more years.

That's true! Especially cases related to property and land ownership goes of for decades. However, I don't think the same fate awaits for the crypto case. Because a big Association IAMAI has filed the petition. IAMAI stands for "Internet and Mobile association of India". So expecting this case will have shorter tenure. But due to the complexity of the matter, it will not be easy for a court to decide.

In the meantime, Reserve Bank of India had filed a Counter affidavit (reply) to the court as per the directive given to them. It seems like they have done a  lot of homework this time. However they have raised a few interesting questions this time. See the video below,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78sZwZdxBzs

The language of this video is Hindi. I am still waiting for an English version. 

I am still confused about the legality of bitcoin in India, there is some information that India is trying to adopt bitcoin because the circulation of bitcoin there is already very large and there have even been some big investors coming from there, but suddenly the news came that the government was banning bitcoin and banning the company I use big bitcoin, and what I know is that my first opinion was that India had legalized bitcoin and tried to regulate it because India had already felt for themselves how the benefits of its people who actually use bitcoin have violated taxation.

You seem to have confusion between blockchain technology and cryptocurrency.  You need to understand that both are different things. Blockchain is a technology and bitcoin is a successful use case of blockchain technology.

India had never decided to adopt bitcoin, it was blockchain. Indian power ministry had decided to explore blockchain in the power sector and ordered research and development activity for the same.

Also, India haven't yet ordered a complete ban on cryptos. They have just announced that cryptos can't be used as a legal tender in India. P2p transactions are still alive and thriving in India. I hope this help you to understand the difference now!

the Indian government began to follow in the footsteps of developed countries, they began to see great potential in bitcoin, maybe India in the future began to use krypto to replace conventional currencies, India might realize there had been a big revolution in world currencies, we see developments that would, maybe very good.