This is absolutely not good for India Bitcoin community!

[cheezcarls]

The governor of India’s central bank, Shaktikanta Das, has restated that the Indian government is against private cryptocurrencies. This all comes ironically amid talks of India launching its own Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).

India has been discussing cryptocurrencies and the regulations surrounding them for over a year, and overall taking a hardline stance. While no official law has been passed, the latest comments do indicate the steps the country might take.

Click here for the full news

So they are following the footsteps of China, ei?

I just don't know what would be the reaction of the Bitcoin and cryptocurrency enthusiasts in India about this. I know this is not good for you guys like what is happening in China.

They would prefer blockchain over Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. But I highly believe that there will be a change of heart in the future about private cryptocurrencies.

For sure, India would be left behind if the government itself will not embrace private cryptocurrencies within the next decade. What would be your opinion or reaction about this guys. Kindly share it here. Cheers!

[Argoo]

Yes, the government of India is at a crossroads. On the one hand, they do not want to recognize a decentralized cryptocurrency, and on the other, they understand that they can lag behind other countries in development. This is what makes the Indian government consider issuing its nationally stable coin. If such a coin is issued, then gradually an ordinary decentralized cryptocurrency will go there. So in general, the appearance of stable coins of various states is very good for cryptocurrency.

[joniboini]

By private, do they mean privacy coins or just any other currency that is not issued by the government? I just read the news but I still not fully understand the definition.

It's quite funny how they believe the issuance of money should come from a sovereign entity but not mentioning the inherent abuse of constant inflation and the bad sov value of fiat. If you look at it that way, fiat are 'more private' than most crypto (not counting the useless ICO/IEO).

[DreamStage]

They are not saying it is going to be banned yet so you don't have to be so worried about it

India’s Central Bank Hints that Cryptocurrencies Will Be Banned

They probabily just want to make it more legal than ever before in a way for their banks to use it and make it possible to use cryptocurrencies with their banks as stated.
Time is required for such implementations and that's why they made such statements.

[Vishnu.Reang]

Is India want to ban crypto again? Did they know that real ban is impossible?

I don't think that they are going to ban cryptocurrency. The former Finance Secretary of India (Subhash Chandra Garg) had suggested a complete ban on ownership and trading of cryptocurrency in India, making it a punishable offence with up to 10 years in jail. But he was fired from his post and kicked out before he could implement his plans. Now let's see what Shaktikanta Das will do about it.

[chronicsky]

Nothing new, various comments have been made by many politicians over the past years.

Start of the year 2018, India Declared Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin as not legal Tender

That is understandable, since 2013 government of India has made remarks over the high volatility and risk in trading Bitcoin. This goes specially well for India as scams and ponzi's are very common and since i can remember i have seen people using various make rich overnight schemes to take peoples money. People are not aware of the working of things and give in to their greed often.

One such case is of Amit Bhardwaj on how he duped people using bitcoin and ran away with peoples money. It gave bad name to Bitcoin along with many other Scams like this happening around in India.

The government had to shrug itself from any such case and thus declared it as non-legal tender and in some sense is good as people have become wary of such scams.

But some cases emerge where the politicians themselves have been found of using bitcoin for Scams

There was even a Draft of a bill to make cryptocurrency totally illegal and people who use it in anyway get jail time


Regardless, the case is ongoing and has been postponed over and over. The next hearing is on 14th January 2020.
Hope for the best

By private, do they mean privacy coins or just any other currency that is not issued by the government? I just read the news but I still not fully understand the definition.

-snip-

By private they mean the cryptocurrency not issued by government or by a government authorized institution.

[bitcampaign]

I sometimes wonder if a BANK without customers can survive, I think if using logic we don't need news about India or China banning the use of crypto currencies or whatever, avoid debates like this and just respect their decision to support using blockchain technology without bitcoin and other crypto currencies, remember we only need big adoption from the community and that's more important because the BANK and the government will never be in power or become big without their society

[tsaroz]

China and India has similar problems with bitcoins. They have a lot of people trying to keep their money safe and away from their own government.
Many people use crypto to secure their money before they plan to leave the country in the future or just to make it safe from the government.
Both businessmen and corrupt politician and officials are using crypto to launder their money.

[acroman08]

The governor of India’s central bank, Shaktikanta Das, has restated that the Indian government is against private cryptocurrencies. This all comes ironically amid talks of India launching its own Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).

there is nothing Ironic in it. CBDC isn't against cryptocurrency. they are just against decentralized/private cryptocurrency and them releasing a public and centralized cryptocurrency is not ironic.

So they are following the footsteps of China, ei?

in making their own cryptocurrency? then yes. banning cryptocurrency? not sure.

I just don't know what would be the reaction of the Bitcoin and cryptocurrency enthusiasts in India about this. I know this is not good for you guys like what is happening in China.

their reaction would be the same as ours if our government banned cryptocurrency.

For sure, India would be left behind if the government itself will not embrace private cryptocurrencies within the next decade. What would be your opinion or reaction about this guys. Kindly share it here. Cheers!

what makes you say this, can you elaborate?

[joinfree]

Seriously i don't know how this would affect many crypto enthusiasts in India. I don't think there are miners in India that would be affected with this situation. Bitcoin is decentralized and anonymous so how are they going to be affected with this situation. In the first place how does the government know that some individual is using bitcoin or not.

[Kprawn]

What did you expect from one of the most corrupt governments in the world? So the logic behind this move is to ban the competition for their own

GovCoin that they are planning.    They will use all the usual excuses and reasons to ban Bitcoin, like Money laundering, drugs, Child pornography

and the popular.. funding terrorism to push this through. They will simply ignore the fact that most of these things are being done via Banks and also

with their local fiat currency.                                              The world is full of hypocrisy!!

[chronicsky]

I sometimes wonder if a BANK without customers can survive, I think if using logic we don't need news about India or China banning the use of crypto currencies or whatever, avoid debates like this and just respect their decision to support using blockchain technology without bitcoin and other crypto currencies, remember we only need big adoption from the community and that's more important because the BANK and the government will never be in power or become big without their society

oh wow!
so let it happen, its not happening in my home ?

Seriously i don't know how this would affect many crypto enthusiasts in India. I don't think there are miners in India that would be affected with this situation. Bitcoin is decentralized and anonymous so how are they going to be affected with this situation. In the first place how does the government know that some individual is using bitcoin or not.

There are few miners but all are discreet or not openly known.

and the government knows through exchanges is all. But if the person uses bitcoin how he should. there shouldn't be much of a problem.

[alyssa85]

The governor of India’s central bank, Shaktikanta Das, has restated that the Indian government is against private cryptocurrencies. This all comes ironically amid talks of India launching its own Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).

India has been discussing cryptocurrencies and the regulations surrounding them for over a year, and overall taking a hardline stance. While no official law has been passed, the latest comments do indicate the steps the country might take.

Click here for the full news

So they are following the footsteps of China, ei?

I just don't know what would be the reaction of the Bitcoin and cryptocurrency enthusiasts in India about this. I know this is not good for you guys like what is happening in China.

They would prefer blockchain over Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. But I highly believe that there will be a change of heart in the future about private cryptocurrencies.

For sure, India would be left behind if the government itself will not embrace private cryptocurrencies within the next decade. What would be your opinion or reaction about this guys. Kindly share it here. Cheers!

I am not sure why you are surprised.

India still has capital controls as it tries to prevent money leaving the country. And cryptocurrency is a way for money to leave the country.

So baby steps - first lobby for the end of capital controls, and then you can lobby for the restrictions on cryptocurrency to be lifted.

[btc_angela]

Well we have seen this discussions so many times and up to know we still don't know what will be India's official stance of crypto. However, if worst comes to worst, then you still have a choice, whether to continue to involved yourself in crypto, or just move out of country and go to a crypto friendly countries. I know this is going to be difficult for the majority, but if you wanted to stay then take the risk, in my opinion.

[Kunnu]

I think Indian government won't ban cryptocurrencies they are taking time to make final decision about this concern because the Indian government is trying to figure out that which step could be healthy or unhealthy regarding this issue and I believe that after figuring out the final decision will be in a favour of Indian crypto community and the government will make regulations maybe strong regulations to allow cryptocurrency buying, trading etc.

[Patatas]

What did you expect from one of the most corrupt governments in the world? So the logic behind this move is to ban the competition for their own

GovCoin that they are planning.    They will use all the usual excuses and reasons to ban Bitcoin, like Money laundering, drugs, Child pornography

and the popular.. funding terrorism to push this through. They will simply ignore the fact that most of these things are being done via Banks and also

with their local fiat currency.                                              The world is full of hypocrisy!!

I have been hearing news about the black money market in India and how the rich people there don't pay taxes and run away with government funds. How come solving this issue of the fiat money is not a priority over some poor crypto traders? The government seems to have lost their minds. If you live in a country this corrupt, you shouldn't be worried about the ban at all. It's not going to change anything. Indians are smart at technology so I'm sure the community will find an alternative to whatever regulations they impose.

[pundit]

India and China both are big countries in terms of population,so its almost impossible to track any transaction made in decentralize platform like blockchain. That may be the reason Indian govt is taking some decision on cryptocurrency. Current govt is focusing on digital payments so I do not think they will completely ban something which is related to latest innovation like blockchain. Govt must find a middle way to deal with this issue. Lets wait for Jan 2020 and hope for something good to hear.

[kryptqnick]

They are not saying it is going to be banned yet so you don't have to be so worried about it

India’s Central Bank Hints that Cryptocurrencies Will Be Banned

They probabily just want to make it more legal than ever before in a way for their banks to use it and make it possible to use cryptocurrencies with their banks as stated.
Time is required for such implementations and that's why they made such statements.

Of course, it hints, because no matter how badly the Bank might want cryptocurrencies to get banned, it is not its decision, is it? I think it's not, 'cause if the Bank had enough power, the law would have forbidden cryptos already. They are trying to push their agenda in hope that the Parliament will support the Bank's stance. But India is the world's biggest democracy, so the vote has to take place, and the Bank cannot make an authoritarian decision and probably does not even have a say on this matter, so it's funny how the officials of the bank "represent" the government.

[kro55]

I don't think its something new, there are many countries apart from china which are showing such behavior towards cryptocurrencies. We will see more such news coming up with increasing popularity aka adoption rate of cryptocurrencies. In the long run, I see cryptocurrency as a financial system that will run in parallel with the current financial system as there are rear chances governments will accept private crypto.

[Twentyonepaylots]

By private, do they mean privacy coins or just any other currency that is not issued by the government? I just read the news but I still not fully understand the definition.

I guess they are referring to the what does the government not issued currency. Because India is facing a huge problem with tax evasion and money laundering so they did not want it since then.

It's quite funny how they believe the issuance of money should come from a sovereign entity but not mentioning the inherent abuse of constant inflation and the bad sov value of fiat. If you look at it that way, fiat are 'more private' than most crypto (not counting the useless ICO/IEO).

Knowing that India is a populous country it is hard for them to track each of their citizen with decentralized network and that would just make it easier to launder money and evade taxes in India. They are planning to introduce their new coin that would likely to be accepted in the whole country. We've known India has a very huge problem in any aspect in crypto space , there are already various cases that involves hacking in India, So most probably their government is just being too handy about it.