2021-01-30 [CNBC] India might ban private cryptocurrencies like bitcoin

[Sithara007]

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/30/the-indian-government-may-ban-cryptocurrencies-like-bitcoin.html

The “Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill” moves “to create a facilitative framework for creation of the official digital currency to be issued by the Reserve Bank of India.”

Additionally, “the bill also seeks to prohibit all private cryptocurrencies in India, however, it allows for certain exceptions to promote the underlying technology of cryptocurrency and its uses.”

The logic is very simple. Bitcoin has become a victim of its own success. The ruling party now want to repeat their modus operandi, by banning these successful cryptocurrencies and then try to replace them with pre-mined shitcoins from the Adani/Ambani cartel. India has become the first country, where simple ownership of cryptocurrency is now a criminal offense. Violators are threatened with up to 10 years rigorous imprisonment.

[aysg76]

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/30/the-indian-government-may-ban-cryptocurrencies-like-bitcoin.html

 India has become the first country, where simple ownership of cryptocurrency is now a criminal offense. Violators are threatened with up to 10 years rigorous imprisonment.

The bill you are seeing is fake, real is yet to come. Though there are high chances that they ban cryptocurrencies but just don't tell the judgement, its not a criminal offence yet and no 10 yrs imprisonment condition.

This condition was in the bill which was going to publish in 2019 but not in 2021 yet.

[Carlton Banks]

The opposition is understandable; without the ability to control the monetary system, or to control the money of people living in this so-called "India", the gangsters who are trying to hold their racket together are afraid that "India" will cease to exist.

I think they (our aforementioned gangsters) may become angry (and violent) as a consequence, but in the end, they will fail. And the people will be freed (and this may not be as wonderful as it sounds, at least not initially)

[acquafredda]

Good luck with replacing bitcoin, and I have to admit, some other less evil altcoins, with some pre-mined crap.
India you do not recognize cryptocurrencies as legal tender? Fair enough, but keep in mind the rest of the world will keep using these savage money tools. And do not get fooled, dear India, as your smart citizens will find ways to keep using them after a ban. And what is more to that? You will not even get your (un)fair share of taxes.
Think twice before stifling innovation in your country.

[cr1776]

Authoritarians around the world who don't trust their citizens to make their own decisions, but more importantly, they want to control them. They want to control their speech speech and their money. Fascists do it privately like FB, Twitter etc, and socialists/communists in government do it like this.

Could they do it?  Perhaps they could scare some people, but the smart ones now are buying bitcoin so that when the gunmen who are trying to control India go for the bank accounts even more (e.g. like banning big notes in 2016), they'll have assets that are out of reach of them.

[Vishnu.Reang]

The bill you are seeing is fake, real is yet to come. Though there are high chances that they ban cryptocurrencies but just don't tell the judgement, its not a criminal offence yet and no 10 yrs imprisonment condition.

This condition was in the bill which was going to publish in 2019 but not in 2021 yet.

From what I have heard, the bill is essentially the same one which they tried to table in 2018/19. There are only some minor changes, such as "exceptions" for "underlying technology and others". In the summary that was posted to the parliament website, it is clear that there will be a complete ban on "private" cryptocurrencies (i.e those cryptocurrencies that are decentralized and not controlled by the central bank).

[Karartma1]

Authoritarians around the world who don't trust their citizens to make their own decisions, but more importantly, they want to control them. They want to control their speech speech and their money. Fascists do it privately like FB, Twitter etc, and socialists/communists in government do it like this.

Could they do it?  Perhaps they could scare some people, but the smart ones now are buying bitcoin so that when the gunmen who are trying to control India go for the bank accounts even more (e.g. like banning big notes in 2016), they'll have assets that are out of reach of them.

There's going to be some trouble in the future because of that. The Nazi could rob and seize gold as it was clearly visible and physical (you could have saved just a few small jewels or some coins) and we all know that it can't be don with bitcoin (not knowing where to search and what to look for). Imagine the day they will come after our coins: could you be so sure you can save them from the gov prying eyes? If the bitcoin ecosystem doesn't grow in scale and in usability (decentralized exchanges, widespread adoption of coinjoins and LN ...) it'll be very hard to be able to even use bitcoin in the real life. An hostile environment will relegate bitcoin to a world where very few will know how to make the best out of it. Sounds like the Matrix uh  ?

[ketny]

This is cruel and proves once again that the worst villains of this world are the states! They violate the private right to own anything!

[bbc.reporter]

What is the threat of bitcoin and private cryptocoins on the present state of affairs in banking? I reckon illegal payments, money laundering and tax evasion. The government and the banks do not want to give the people of such power to overstep the law. They also do not want competition on their money laundering schemes and other financial schemes hehehe.

This is why I think the ICO as an idea is very important. Also, Defi as an idea is important. However, the projects we have at present are making it appear that the idea is a scam.

[Darker45]

Bitcoin is not a private cryptocurrency. Bitcoin is a public cryptocurrency in the truest meaning of the word. It is not owned, therefore the public in general is the owner of it. It is not controlled, therefore everybody takes part in deciding its fate and development and even its value. And what is truly public is something the government cannot ban.

In contrast, what is considered public by the government is not truly so. Fiat is never public, although the government wants the entire public to use it. In truth, it is controlled privately by a few corrupt individuals. Its value, amount, distribution, and so on are determined by a handful of imperfect, dubious, and even suspicious individuals.

[Sithara007]

This is cruel and proves once again that the worst villains of this world are the states! They violate the private right to own anything!

Who will invest in stock markets and bonds, when cryptocurrency is giving anywhere from 300% to 400% returns in just 12 months? Indian cryptocurrency exchanges have claimed that their user base is going up at a rate of around 10% every month. According to the conservative estimates, there are at least 10 million active users in India, who hold cryptocurrency assets worth $10 billion to $30 billion. Obviously the government is getting very uneasy at those numbers.

[orions.belt19]

What is the threat of bitcoin and private cryptocoins on the present state of affairs in banking? I reckon illegal payments, money laundering and tax evasion. The government and the banks do not want to give the people of such power to overstep the law. They also do not want competition on their money laundering schemes and other financial schemes hehehe.

This is why I think the ICO as an idea is very important. Also, Defi as an idea is important. However, the projects we have at present are making it appear that the idea is a scam.

I guess the threat lies where they cannot regulate it. From what I've read, they seem not to understand the concept of digital payments and argues that it doesn't have a physical counterpart which can be "stamped" meaning the lack of control is their concern. Instead, they announced that they will be creating their own digital currency to obviously monopolize the crypto space in their country. Recent pump and dumps may have been their concern or something like the GME fiasco could happen. With a centralized digital currency, it won't be as volatile.

What I don't understand is the term "private" cryptocurrencies which I don't think can apply to Bitcoin since it's not privately owned by anyone. Except perhaps for XRP which a majority of is owned by Ripple. Bitcoin and other coins are very open to the public, there's no "private" cryptocurrency.

[Vishnu.Reang]

I guess the threat lies where they cannot regulate it. From what I've read, they seem not to understand the concept of digital payments and argues that it doesn't have a physical counterpart which can be "stamped" meaning the lack of control is their concern. Instead, they announced that they will be creating their own digital currency to obviously monopolize the crypto space in their country. Recent pump and dumps may have been their concern or something like the GME fiasco could happen. With a centralized digital currency, it won't be as volatile.

What I don't understand is the term "private" cryptocurrencies which I don't think can apply to Bitcoin since it's not privately owned by anyone. Except perhaps for XRP which a majority of is owned by Ripple. Bitcoin and other coins are very open to the public, there's no "private" cryptocurrency.

My question here is, if the cryptocurrency is such a bad thing, then why these people are coming up with their own version of the Central Bank approved crypto? It is ironic that the central bank want to monopolize on an invention which was made by a non-Indian citizen. If the central bank want to come up with their version of shitcoin, no one is having any issue with that. But our problem is that they want to destroy the competition by banning the existing cryptocurrencies. If they are so confident about their CBDC coin, then why should they be afraid of competition?

[amishmanish]

Banning cryptocurrency would mean throwing baby out with the bath water. For successive governments in India, the priority almost always is to be seen as pro-poor. The poor in this case hardly care or know about cryptocurrencies, leave alone the complex interaction of crony capitalism and politics.

The people who stand to suffer are a growing crop of young software apprentices, a lot of click-to-earn little guys, traders and a few thousand or so "community managers" types. Other than that, the money flow of bitcoin isn't really well understood or explored in India. There is just that easy connection with tax evasion, black money and loan app scams. This perception is what is driving the legislative action, as it does in most countries. Or that is what we all should hope. Right now all hopes are pinned on whether the policymakers will consult the existing stakeholders to hear their side of the argument.

[Lorence.xD]

Who will invest in stock markets and bonds, when cryptocurrency is giving anywhere from 300% to 400% returns in just 12 months? Indian cryptocurrency exchanges have claimed that their user base is going up at a rate of around 10% every month. According to the conservative estimates, there are at least 10 million active users in India, who hold cryptocurrency assets worth $10 billion to $30 billion. Obviously the government is getting very uneasy at those numbers.

The reason that they are threatened by it is that they have a big population that if they let bitcoin proliferate in the populace then they will have a harder time to control it. We really can't do anything about it because they have the might to enforce this regulations. Stocks is far safer to be honest, it is backed by governments and the people behind it wouldn't want a blue chip to crash so you investment is safe although it is not a lot.

[Vishnu.Reang]

Banning cryptocurrency would mean throwing baby out with the bath water. For successive governments in India, the priority almost always is to be seen as pro-poor. The poor in this case hardly care or know about cryptocurrencies, leave alone the complex interaction of crony capitalism and politics.

The people who stand to suffer are a growing crop of young software apprentices, a lot of click-to-earn little guys, traders and a few thousand or so "community managers" types. Other than that, the money flow of bitcoin isn't really well understood or explored in India. There is just that easy connection with tax evasion, black money and loan app scams. This perception is what is driving the legislative action, as it does in most countries. Or that is what we all should hope. Right now all hopes are pinned on whether the policymakers will consult the existing stakeholders to hear their side of the argument.

China imposed a trading ban on cryptocurrencies a few years back, but it failed to prevent the citizens from that country from owning and trading in crypto. The users simply moved from China-based exchanges to those based in South Korea and Hong Kong. The only result was Chinese government losing tax revenue and job creation opportunity. A similar initiative to ban Bitcoin mining also fizzled out similarly. If an authoritarian country such as China can't ban Bitcoin, then you can imagine what will happen once the Indian government comes up with this stupid law.

[Carlton Banks]

If the central bank want to come up with their version of shitcoin, no one is having any issue with that. But our problem is that they want to destroy the competition by banning the existing cryptocurrencies. If they are so confident about their CBDC coin, then why should they be afraid of competition?

It's further proof that this is (and always was) a fascist system we _all_ live under: the central bank gangsters know their money is worse, it's designed to control people, and no-one will choose it freely.

[zanezane]

If the central bank want to come up with their version of shitcoin, no one is having any issue with that. But our problem is that they want to destroy the competition by banning the existing cryptocurrencies. If they are so confident about their CBDC coin, then why should they be afraid of competition?

Well, central banks are not a stranger to do that kind of thing because what they are doing right now is just a digital version of fiat, if enough people believe that it has a value then time will only tell and everyone will be consider it to have value. They are afraid of competition in the way how they are afraid of counterfeit money, they are basically the same it's just that the state has requirements to consider a paper a legal tender. With this ban in India, again, I think that this will not be a problem for a long time, people will still use it no matter what, the only way that this will end is when the government acknowledges that a ban will not be the rational and necessary action in this kind of things.

[Harlot]

India for me is the new China so everytime I see a news about "India" blah blah blah "Ban" I won't be surprised and more inclined to see that the news is unreal since from what I remembered this news about the ban is going back and forth since 2017 and nothing new has happened so far. I don't even see the crypto news media being reliable with regards to this news since they didn't even define what a "private" cryptocurrency is since from what I know there is no classification for that specific cryptocurrency not unless they are talking about privacy based cryptocurrencies like Monero.

[Sithara007]

India for me is the new China so everytime I see a news about "India" blah blah blah "Ban" I won't be surprised and more inclined to see that the news is unreal since from what I remembered this news about the ban is going back and forth since 2017 and nothing new has happened so far. I don't even see the crypto news media being reliable with regards to this news since they didn't even define what a "private" cryptocurrency is since from what I know there is no classification for that specific cryptocurrency not unless they are talking about privacy based cryptocurrencies like Monero.

Back in 2019, the supreme court of India asked a clarification on what the government meant by "private" cryptocurrency. The bureaucrats replied that any cryptocurrency that is not issued by the central bank is "private" (there was a banking ban on cryptocurrency that was imposed in 2018, and this ban in turn was invalidated by the supreme court in 2020).

It is true that the rumors and FUD have been going for quite sometime. But these were not without any substance. The government was never comfortable with the idea of cryptocurrencies getting traded in its jurisdiction. The first bill to ban cryptocurrency was drafted in 2018 by Subhash Chandra Garg, but he was kicked out of office before he could table it. This time though, they look to be serious.