Bitcoin Forum

Lets assume this tweet is true - https://twitter.com/Nikunj_Ohri/status/1136823903605723137

"India has proposed a jail term of one to ten years for those who mine, hold or sell cryptocurrencies."

What if this become law? How do you plan for your next course of action (and suggest others)?

p.s. Any attempt to divert the discussion with "I believe this will not become law" etc. will be outright deleted.

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Update on July 22, 2019: https://twitter.com/SecretaryDEA/status/1153302518815834119

https://dea.gov.in/sites/default/files/Approved%20and%20Signed%20Report%20and%20Bill%20of%20IMC%20on%20VCs%2028%20Feb%202019.pdf

If holding cryptos will be completely restricted in India then I have no options other than moving to somewhere else.I stayed some Asian countries too which one is Singapore so might visit there even though chances of having nationality there is very minimal.

I don't think there will be jail term for holding or mining,  but trading they can impose, because holding or mining there is no way govt can find we are doing this.
For trading if you have enough crypto, you can go outside India and sell there and back to India and pay taxes on crypto earning.

But Bangladesh have the same punishment for holding the cryptos as well,maybe they don't know how to find the holding but if it happens in somewhat there will be some kind of punishment if that rule exist.

If you have the capacity to go abroad and sell your crypto currency then why you want to pay your taxes back home for the earnings as it is not even permitted to earn a profit let alone hold your coins. Bitcoin gives us the protection to mask our identity if you are not dealing with any exchanges inside your country who comply with all the KYC and AML procedures and hence there is nothing to worry about someone identifying you with just your wallet address.

I don't think holding cryptocurrencies will become illegal ever. Buying and selling in the local market may become illegal but no government can control the movement of cryptocurrencies between wallets. Hence, banning the holding and transferring would literally contribute nothing.
So even a scenario comes where government pass any such bill (chances of which is very meager), no need to worry as one can still receive crypto in wallets and sell them on OTC Exchanges in International Markets.

If I have to assume it, why would I not assume the best? It is futile to discuss the regulatory outcome. If the government brings out a positive enforcement, good news for the blockchain tech and industry in India. If not, then we would have to make alternate arrangements or find loopholes in the regulations.

It's simple, stop dealing in bitcoins and leave the forum too. There's no point of holding something that can land you in prison. It would be similar to holding any other illegal products.

You have to pay taxes because otherwise, how you will come with that money? Either you have to pay taxes by saying other income option or just pray for next 8 years, your name won't come on scrutiny. If it comes in scrutiny than no one will save you.

This thing is doing a lot of rounds in the internet. However, before reaching to any conclusion, please see the below video to get a new perspective in this case,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z91bfIunZZ8

The video is published by Crypto Kanoon who are pioneering in crypto related legal issues in India. First see it and then decide your next course!

First of all, this bill is not passed yet, right? I hope it may take another 2 years to get that bill passed.
Then why from now onwards all are getting upset. Within 2 years anything can happen. India is a member of G20.
So I dont thing India will ban crypto.

- Set up a business outside India, preferably in Thailand/HK/Singapore/Mauritius/Malta.

- Do everything related to Crypto under that entity.

- Bring back INR after converting from local currency through normal banking channel.

- Pay tax.

So this news is an official statement of Indian government?

But didn't see much of buzz around the forum about this ban yet.

I don't think the bill will be passed anytime soon for the reasons mentioned here (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5167788.msg51932594#msg51932594)

However, if by chance the bill gets passed on both Houses. I can't exile from the country to another as my crypto holdings aren't huge and I'm not in a position to do so. I'll stay in India, but..

• I'll lie to my friends and relatives, that I sold every last bit of Crypto I held in loss and I'll bare with the "See, I told you so " advice.
• I'll hold most of my Crypto and will trade some in DEXs
• I'll keep myself and my children (if born after marriage  :P) updated on Crypto related stuff.
• I'll hope for Govt to come with a good Crypto Regulation. Until then I hold and wait.
• I'll make sure that my Crypto holdings get passed on to my next generation without the Govt knowing

You may like to subscribe https://www.reddit.com/r/CryptoIndia/ to stay updated.

324 members will be enough to discuss about the problem of 1.4 billion common people? :-[

LMAO. Crypto ban is not a problem of 1.4 billion common people. Hardly a few lakhs are solely dependent on Crypto. For the rest, it is just another stock/asset. They'll sell and move on.

Even comparing that 324 with lakhs doesn't make sense though.

BTW nothing serious about ban until now so just keep holding your bitcoin.

#StrongHold

Their is nothing left as far as people who still believe that bitcoin would be legal or something like that. Because that rule might get implemented soon of the draft we had being reading on the net and also government is not looking to support the crypto in the country.

India is not going to implement anything soon,I read some passed bills took 19 years to implement as a rule.

Well, we do have other options here. For instance, if I were in this situation then I would still continue using crypto as if nothing had happened.
The problem only arises on buying/selling crypto for fiat. I would stop using the Indian currency and would trade with whatever I have left.
May be at some point in future the government of India will accept cryptocurrencies, I would patiently wait until then.
If required we can also use other currencies for withdrawal such as using USD and getting the amount in paypal.
Also, peer to peer exchanges such as WazirX can be used since it is very hard for the government to judge the amount that it coming from such sources.
If we are in contact with local sellers then we can make the deal in cash too but it's quite risky this way.

If you are holding crypto currencies worth in millions then you can move to countries where cryptos are supported.

Or if you are just holding in thousands means you can make paypal transactions or just use the bank account of your friend from different country and give one percentage as commission or fee to him.

Or p2p like localbitcoin can be.

If jail term proposal accepted by govt, then P2P will also stop, who will take risk to selling crypto, if they will get caught it will be big risk.
P2P will almost finished in India, localbitcoins and other P2P site most probably will unaccessible and Indian P2P platform will be shutdown for permanent.

Disagreed.

Currently, you could be jailed for having porn in your phone for up to three years. How strictly is that enforced? Name 1 person that stopped watching porn or storing it in their phone because of the law.

People that love privacy and have a need to transact in crypto, will find a way.

And that is not even counting the criminals and money launderers. They will abuse crypto just as badly as they have abused fiat.

Because no one can check your phone without search warrant, but bank can check your bank tx and govt will ban P2P site like Localbitcoins and Paxful. And Indian site will shutdown because it will be punishable to holding crypto, so how they can run platform for trading crypto in India.

We can use VPN to access the sites right?

Indian government asking everyone to pay everything you are buying digitally or send or receive money in digital as well so its hard for the banks to decet which one coming from crypto related people in 1.4 billion populated country.

If there is only 1-2 tx once in a while, but if you are trader, there will be ton of transactioin. Bank will call you and ask you, from where you receiving or sending so much transactions.

At first look that's what our Hon'ble finance minister has to say about the draft.


Indian Finance Minister Addresses Crypto Proposal - Industry Responds (https://news.bitcoin.com/indian-finance-minister-crypto-proposal/)

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Sooner or later they are going to adopt everything, it's just a matter of time and if by any chance something goes wrong in a long run then, a good amount of BTC multi-millionaire will not hesitate to move out from India and rightly so.

I wish this should be true. :)

If the finance minister says that reports was not right then literally they are going to support and regulate the cryptos.