India and Bitcoins

[ThiruBTC]

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?

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[avikz]

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.

[abdulq]

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.

[peter0425]

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?

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.

[darkangel11]

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?

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.

[Shrinath]

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.

[mishrakjr]

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.

[CryptoBry]

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.

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.

[Zackgeno96]

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?

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.

[Palmholder]

   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

[bitcoinvamp]

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?

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.

[abdulq]

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?

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.

[Kemarit]

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?

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.

[ruthbabe]

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?

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.

[batang_bitcoin]

In India, Bitcoin is not a legal tender. But it is not explicitly termed as illegal.

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.

What is the reason for such a stand by Government? what are its implications?

Taxation, illegal use, protection, etc.

[jjacob]

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

[newwest]

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.

[Sithara007]

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

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.

[ikolr]

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

[Netnox]

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.