Bitcoin in India? Not for a LOOOOONG time.

[Sithara007]

Yes bitcoin is not illegal in India. I even saw one local picture here in this forum that there is a certain group that are giving lectures and teaching other people on the usage and value of bitcoin. Bitcoin usage in India is not really a big market compared to other countries but the most important part is that they are starting to use it. Sooner of later the bitcoin community in that area will also increase and expand.

Bitcoin usage in India is neither legal, nor illegal. The government hasn't introduced any legislation targeting its usage. And for the local Bitcoin-based ventures such as Exchanges and Online shops, it is impossible to open a bank account with any public or private bank.

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[equator]

Yes bitcoin is not illegal in India. I even saw one local picture here in this forum that there is a certain group that are giving lectures and teaching other people on the usage and value of bitcoin. Bitcoin usage in India is not really a big market compared to other countries but the most important part is that they are starting to use it. Sooner of later the bitcoin community in that area will also increase and expand.

Bitcoin usage in India is neither legal, nor illegal. The government hasn't introduced any legislation targeting its usage. And for the local Bitcoin-based ventures such as Exchanges and Online shops, it is impossible to open a bank account with any public or private bank.

The last governor of India have been interested in Bitcoin and its Blockchain Technology and have said that until the user dont use bitcoin for any illegal activities or money laundering the trades are legal. But still the most of the merchants are not ready to use bitcoin as payment option.

[anavuajna]

It seems to me that we should not be skeptical to the development of Bitcoin in India. This is a very promising country. In addition, the government is forcing people to find alternative ways to store and make money. It provides a basis for the development of cryptocurrency in India

[Clement Kaliyar]

It seems to me that we should not be skeptical to the development of Bitcoin in India. This is a very promising country. In addition, the government is forcing people to find alternative ways to store and make money. It provides a basis for the development of cryptocurrency in India

It is true that the government is forcing people to store money in alternative ways and people are finding bitcoin as the new source of investment as evident with the price of bitcoin in India. Demonetisation has changed the concept of people and it will be hard for people to trust in saving their funds in banks with the events that happened a couple of months ago.

[LimLims]

It seems to me that we should not be skeptical to the development of Bitcoin in India. This is a very promising country. In addition, the government is forcing people to find alternative ways to store and make money. It provides a basis for the development of cryptocurrency in India

It is true that the government is forcing people to store money in alternative ways and people are finding bitcoin as the new source of investment as evident with the price of bitcoin in India. Demonetisation has changed the concept of people and it will be hard for people to trust in saving their funds in banks with the events that happened a couple of months ago.

Exactly, after demonetisation people have started to hate banks as they were not satisfied with their services and their behavior and most of them switched to debit/credit card payments and if at this stage if they are made aware about bitcoins then I am sure they will stop using banks anymore.

[HaXX0R1337]

Yes bitcoin is not illegal in India. I even saw one local picture here in this forum that there is a certain group that are giving lectures and teaching other people on the usage and value of bitcoin. Bitcoin usage in India is not really a big market compared to other countries but the most important part is that they are starting to use it. Sooner of later the bitcoin community in that area will also increase and expand.

Bitcoin usage in India is neither legal, nor illegal. The government hasn't introduced any legislation targeting its usage. And for the local Bitcoin-based ventures such as Exchanges and Online shops, it is impossible to open a bank account with any public or private bank.

There is no law written regarding bitcoin but that does not make bitcoin illegal which means it is legal  If it is impossible to open a bank account with any public or private bank then how does exchanges like coinsecure and unicoin send fiat money to their customers.

[The Sceptical Chymist]

It seems to me that we should not be skeptical to the development of Bitcoin in India. This is a very promising country. In addition, the government is forcing people to find alternative ways to store and make money. It provides a basis for the development of cryptocurrency in India

It is true that the government is forcing people to store money in alternative ways and people are finding bitcoin as the new source of investment as evident with the price of bitcoin in India. Demonetisation has changed the concept of people and it will be hard for people to trust in saving their funds in banks with the events that happened a couple of months ago.

Exactly, after demonetisation people have started to hate banks as they were not satisfied with their services and their behavior and most of them switched to debit/credit card payments and if at this stage if they are made aware about bitcoins then I am sure they will stop using banks anymore.

Yeah, this is going to happen worldwide, in my opinion.  We're definitely moving toward a cashless world, and that scares me a little--but I still like bitcoin, which is about as cashless as it gets.  India definitely needs it.  But we're all going to need it or something like it if governments keep obliterating actual money (paper & coins).

Can you believe countries still crank out coins with copper and nickel in them?  It's kinda crazy.

[Sithara007]

There is no law written regarding bitcoin but that does not make bitcoin illegal which means it is legal  If it is impossible to open a bank account with any public or private bank then how does exchanges like coinsecure and unicoin send fiat money to their customers.

Coinsecure and Unicoin are not doing it 100% legally. Sometimes they are sending out fiat from third-party bank accounts. Recently, they are making transfer using bank accounts registered with dummy companies. Don't know for how long this will go on.

[MMA]

i was hear about bitcoin in india
its bitcoin legal on there ?

In June 2013, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued a notice acknowledging that virtual currencies posed legal, regulatory and operational challenges. In August 2013, a spokesperson wrote in an email that bitcoin was under observation.

On 24 December 2013, the Reserve Bank of India issued an advisory to the Indian public to be cautious in buying or selling of virtual currencies, including bitcoin. Following the announcement bitcoin operators in the country began suspending operations.

The first raid in India was undertaken a couple of days later in Ahmedabad by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on the office of the website, buysellbit.co.in, that provided a platform to trade in this virtual currency. The preliminary investigations found it to be in violation of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).

On 28 December 2013, the Deputy Governor of the RBI, K. C. Chakrabarty, made a statement that RBI had no plans to regulate bitcoin.

Nobody is regulating BTC in India but it doesn't mean it is illegal . Recently I read in a local newspaper about introducing BTC as investment asset to Indians so it means BTC is legal in India.

Yes bitcoin is not illegal in India. I even saw one local picture here in this forum that there is a certain group that are giving lectures and teaching other people on the usage and value of bitcoin. Bitcoin usage in India is not really a big market compared to other countries but the most important part is that they are starting to use it. Sooner of later the bitcoin community in that area will also increase and expand.

After China,  India can be the next big market where you will find bitcoins more popular. If you analysis the root cause of china people investing in bitcoins you will come to know that their local currency is in a crash and people want to invest in something secure and therefor bitcoins they choose. Same is with india currecny and i see more businessman from india will convert their money into bitcoins.

India has a great population so we can expect that the users of bitcoin in India will be good in number. as majority of the people in India belong to poor families therefore it is a good opportunity for them to get benefit from bitcoin by investing a small amount in alt coins and get good profit after some time when the price of bitcoin goes up. bur for this they must have have the facilities of computer and internet, because i am doubting that still most of the people may not be able to afford the expenses of internet there.

[mummybtc]

I think Bitcoin is still at adoption stage in India, the main competition to its adoption is Gold and other solid matals, I read that Indians have alot of their investment in solid metals, since people believe in what they can see and hold unlike BTC that is in Digital state

[Dudeperfect]

I think Bitcoin is still at adoption stage in India, the main competition to its adoption is Gold and other solid matals, I read that Indians have alot of their investment in solid metals, since people believe in what they can see and hold unlike BTC that is in Digital state

Exactly. The boom in bitcoin transactions after demonetization was mainly by bitcoin traders and tech geeks who already knew about bitcoin but at this moment, the common man is getting aware of bitcoin at a slower rate as compared to that of other countries like china, USA etc. I think in next 5 to 10 years, India will be a major player in terms of userbase and transaction volume of bitcoin.

[szpalata]

It seems to me that we should not be skeptical to the development of Bitcoin in India. This is a very promising country. In addition, the government is forcing people to find alternative ways to store and make money. It provides a basis for the development of cryptocurrency in India

I totally agree with you , looking at the high level of IT personnel in India and the enthusiasm with which the Indian people attach to information technology I think it will be great if Bitcoin would be made known on a large scale over there because if India together with China dominates two-thirds of the worlds population and they happen to be Bitcoin enthusiasts then Bitcoin will be accepted by the entire world in no time it's enhancement would be secured.

[darthmaul]

Yeah that is true about India. Actually they have all the freedom they want but they lack richness about digital world. I mean India is Agriculture based country and more than half of the country is into business of farming so they don't really care about digital world. Yes government has reached out everywhere with Digital India schemes but people who live in villages enjoy crispy part and they don't really care about going all inside the virtual world or stuff like that. Moreover, the parts of cities which are into deep digitalisation are understanding the world for secure and safe surfing. They fear of going with virtual world because they are new to it (and it is obvious). I think there are sone companies who has taken the initiative to make bitcoin awareness in India (such as trading platforms and Indian Bitcoin Wallets). They will get used to it.

[STT]

After China,  India can be the next big market where you will find bitcoins more popular. If you analysis the root cause of china people investing in bitcoins you will come to know that their local currency is in a crash and people want to invest in something secure and therefor bitcoins they choose. Same is with india currecny and i see more businessman from india will convert their money into bitcoins.

Bitcoin use in India should exceed China I think because a greater proportion of their population is below 30 and below 25.  I think its actually the majority of a billion people are in their youth not the elderly like the west often has a bias to.
That should mean great growth potential and takeup by the young more willing to adapt as a product becomes useful to them.
     I say India more then China at least in theory because China has had control of its population for years which means this country actually now has a falling working population.  I guess China has more wealth but I think believe it is India which might need it more.   India tends to place faith in gold more I think but you cannot easily transact that across distance so India in general is a slower economy.        Hence OP is likely right, they will take their time unless fate deals a hand

[frowsiter]

Bitcoin will reach India but slowly. It is developing country and government is making lots of changes to its economic system. I think India has 2nd most populated rank in the world but they have less infrastructure for new feature so people are little bit away from bitcoin I guess. But once they start understanding the bitcoin it might happen that India becomes top most country to use bitcoins in the world. Lol. As they have too much population after China. With good  relations with China it may happen they make deal to exchange of these currencies on large scale. Well one can just imagine but the effect would be good.

[AjithBtc]

I don't think India takes the market next to China. Compared to China India has got only very small user base as well very small service sectors for bitcoin. During the demonetization India gained a enormous growth of bitcoin users. So I believe from that a gradual growth in the adoption and acceptance around the country might have begun.

[Sithara007]

It seems to me that we should not be skeptical to the development of Bitcoin in India. This is a very promising country. In addition, the government is forcing people to find alternative ways to store and make money. It provides a basis for the development of cryptocurrency in India

I totally agree with you , looking at the high level of IT personnel in India and the enthusiasm with which the Indian people attach to information technology I think it will be great if Bitcoin would be made known on a large scale over there because if India together with China dominates two-thirds of the worlds population and they happen to be Bitcoin enthusiasts then Bitcoin will be accepted by the entire world in no time it's enhancement would be secured.

I agree that the Information Technology sector is quite big in India, employing millions of people. But only a small part of these people are onto programming or developing. The rest are all employed in low level jobs such as data entry and digitization.

[iluvpie60]

I would imagine they dont want to use btc now that fees are so high. Average wage in India in USD is 1,000 A YEAR. That means 83 usd a month or 19 dollars a week. They are not going to pay 1 dollar per transaction. They would lose all their money thay week for making 8 transactions.

[OROBTC]

I would imagine they dont want to use btc now that fees are so high. Average wage in India in USD is 1,000 A YEAR. That means 83 usd a month or 19 dollars a week. They are not going to pay 1 dollar per transaction. They would lose all their money thay week for making 8 transactions.

Yes, very true.  It's too expensive now to use BTC in India.

When we were there in Nov 2015, I saw and heard NO evidence nor commentary on Bitcoin (OK, we were tourists in northern India, not in the high-tech cities in the south).

India has BIG TIME problems just with their currency.  If/when the Bitcoin Community resolves the scaling problem, India *might* have a bright future w/ BTC (later on), but we saw & heard NO evidence of that in late 2017.  NONE.

[bitcoinisbest]

I don't think India takes the market next to China. Compared to China India has got only very small user base as well very small service sectors for bitcoin. During the demonetization India gained a enormous growth of bitcoin users. So I believe from that a gradual growth in the adoption and acceptance around the country might have begun.

Well yes the growth in India has taken place and now more people are interested in India to know about btc and how it can be used. But now its upto govt and its authorities if they will legalize btc or make it a ban in India and this will make the future about btc in India. May be world is also now waiting and watching how does India react and make or break it.