Is it safe to invest in cryptocurrency in India?

[ankursnv]

In India, the transaction in cryptocurrency is not yet approved by Indian Government but they are saying, we need to analysis it before approval.

Our Finance minster Arun Jaitley said in his budget speech that the government will do everything to discontinue the use of virtual currencies in India.

So, we are in dilemma to invest in this or not?

[Kakmakr]

It depends on what you want to use it for. If you want to build a business that accepts Bitcoin, you might run into trouble. If you work online and you receive Bitcoin/Crypto currency payments, then you could use those bitcoins to go on a nice holiday in a Bitcoin friendly country. <Just pay your flights & accommodation online with Bitcoin>

These governments will soon realize that it is not easy to stop Bitcoin use and they will miss out on a lot of Bitcoin income from tourism/ecommerce and taxes that are paid in other countries, where these bitcoins are used. 

[mk4]

It should be pretty safe if you do it sort of anonymously; just so you wont run to any trouble with banks and the feds and stuff.

A good choice would probably be using a peer-to-peer exchange if you don't know actual people that buy and sell bitcoin. Try out LocalBitcoins[1]. Just make sure to transact in a safe location.

[1] https://localbitcoins.com/

[Herbert2020]

well i can not possibly tell you whether it is safe or not since i don't live in India and the news is never trusted but what i can see is that there are multiple exchanges in India for trading bitcoin, there is also more decentralized ways such as localbitcoins and for a very long time the trading volume of these places have been extremely high. that shows that Indian are already investing in bitcoin and they are doing it A LOT.

additionally you may want to ask this in Indian board here: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?board=89.0

[Dudeperfect]

Well, I don't think that there would be any serious issue if you are buying/trading Bitcoins on the exchange having KYC enabled. It is completely find as far as you are declaring your income and paying tax on the same.

I am optimistic about the future of Bitcoin/crypto and blockchain in India. I believe that legalizing it would be the single best option to deal with it and I am glad to hear such news.

Roles of Regulators Decided in India, Rules on Bitcoin Coming Soon - Bitcoin News.

There is a suspense and not the fear as we know that we are not doing anything illegal.

[heureca]

In India, the transaction in cryptocurrency is not yet approved by Indian Government but they are saying, we need to analysis it before approval.

Our Finance minster Arun Jaitley said in his budget speech that the government will do everything to discontinue the use of virtual currencies in India.

So, we are in dilemma to invest in this or not?

Anyway criptocurrency is anonymous mostly. If your country will block web sites you can use hardware wallets as option  

[Pursuer]

In India, the transaction in cryptocurrency is not yet approved by Indian Government but they are saying, we need to analysis it before approval.

Our Finance minster Arun Jaitley said in his budget speech that the government will do everything to discontinue the use of virtual currencies in India.

So, we are in dilemma to invest in this or not?

there are two things you need to consider for this.
1. the laws not what they say and definitely not what you read on the news.
the laws mean what actually passed as a law not just some article on some click-bait news site or some random comment on a forum. even not something that a government official said. instead you should look for an actual law that the congress passed.

2. whether you care about it or not!
bitcoin is a decentralized currency which is design to be censorship resistance. in other words you should not even care whether your government approves of it or not. if you want to use bitcoin, then get on with it.

[southcat]

As long as the government does not explicitly prohibit Bitcoin, you can continue to invest in cryptocurrencies. The characteristics of cryptocurrencies make it difficult for them to know if you have participated, so you do not need to worry about it.

[magneto]

In India, the transaction in cryptocurrency is not yet approved by Indian Government but they are saying, we need to analysis it before approval.

Our Finance minster Arun Jaitley said in his budget speech that the government will do everything to discontinue the use of virtual currencies in India.

So, we are in dilemma to invest in this or not?

Worst case scenario is that your country entirely bans bitcoin, which is unlikely. They are probably going to try to regulate the exchanges and somehow make profits off taxing bitcoin purchases one way or another. And even if it does happen, and you have BTC, you can still easily sell it p2p.

There is really nothing to worry about. Bitcoin exists without any intervention from central banks. Your only risk here is not making a profit by investing in bitcoin, which I think is a low risk if you're looking at long term investments.

To my understanding there were only 2 smaller exchanges that actually went under and most of the major exchanges are still up and running in India, which means that the Indian government has not practically done anything yet. Buy with all the confidence in the world, don't worry about regulation.

[fiulpro]

Government is.. saying that they will regulate!
They aren't saying that they will ban the cryptocurrency they are saying that they will regulate them ..
I think it's pretty safe as long as you are not using it for bad purposes .

[nazaididuan1]

India's block chain technology is already very developed!

In India, the most frequently used areas of blockchain technology are transfers, digital identities and payment infrastructure.

The ico project in India may be a good application of block chain technology, and it is worth investing!

[AmericanBit]

why not, as far as I know there are no any restrictions regarding crypto in India, so I think this country has good chances to develop itself in crypto world.

[HolderLoo]

The troubles after the doubts have been revealed for the crypto tender in India. Right now it is possible to invest crypto safely in India, after recent adjustments, it seems they will learn from Japan to go in the positive direction as it once did.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/sindhujabalaji/2018/02/06/india-is-not-banning-cryptocurrency-heres-what-it-is-doing-instead/#1c3b21287c6f

[metenjean]

Statement like that has another different meaning and in fact they haven't ban bitcoin yet means you can still invest in it. I don't said that cryptocurrencies is safe but government across the world are looking at it because there are lot of cryptocurrencies beside bitcoin and a lot of them are scams and since then government are trying to regulate and evaluate the crypto flow, which is a good sign that they will press ICOs crowdfunding and else and i think it will make cryptocurrencies have a better future ahead  

[bitcoinmasterlord]

I think Indian governament not changed any rule and they are following the same rule from last 2013, Indian finance minister clearly stated that Bitcoin payment mode is prohibited but crypto trading is legal. These media people are spreading some fake news and making people panic that's it.

And one more thing he told they are collecting information from your local exchanges, so if you submitted KYC then maybe you will receive a letter from your governament to pay tax.

They are planning to stop using Bitcoin in their country because it is affecting to there country economy but they don't know how to stop.

[happness2]

The news I know is that cryptocurrencies are supported in India. Although it is difficult to implement cryptocurrency in India, the Indian government is still trying.

[vvfvcxl]

If trading a cryptocurrency is legal, but using a bitcoin payment ban, it doesn't really matter to you because Bitcoin is an investment for us and not a payment currency.

[shaheer001]

Don't worry invest in Bitcoin and change the Bitcoin to fiat money like skrill,paypal, etc and then withdraw it through your attached credit card or bank account.

[krishnapramod]

The first committee set up by the Finance Ministry to look into cryptocurrency regulations weren't in favour of cryptos, but the second one set up in December and headed by secretary of Department of Economic Affairs is hoping to come up with a proper regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies by the end of this financial year. There is a bit of uncertainty now, but guess there wouldn't be any immediate actions taken and things ahead look optimistic, I would say it is safe to invest. Banning Bitcoin isn't going to be as easy as banning beef

[suzanne5223]

The Chinese ban bitcon and people of China still trade and invest in it. Since you're not planning to run a crypto business which involve merchant transaction, you can still invest into crypto currency but there are ways of doing in other to get into trouble with the law.