India to regulate Bitcoin?Good news for crypto enthusiast

[Lauren Smith]

India has always been fighting a losing battle. You can't just ban things and take people's freedom. There are consequences for the government's actions. Many people believe the government always wins, while I do agree generally this is true... There are open shut cases that just cannot be proven without the government breaking its own laws which it wouldn't do so blatantly. (When they do break laws it is not the "government" perse but rather certain members within the government. Bad apples can make the whole batch look bad as they say.

This movement is just due to the possible backlash they will definitely get if they pass something as Nazi/communist/propaganda as being arrested for a truly nonviolent and harmless "crime". Just because the government doesn't like something doesn't mean they can simply make it a law and make it illegal, there are procedures for these things and they take due time. They do not happen over a few weeks. Not even a few months but usually years. laws take forever to be rewritten or clean slated entirely.

[Dutchyyy]

The Indian government is in final stages to present the crypto bill in the parliament and there were rumours that government will impose a complete ban on trading of cryptocurrencies making it criminal offence.But however Finance minister Nirmala Sitaraman has given hints that government is in talks with RBI to regulate the usage of cryptocurrencies in the country.The supreme court has also rejected RBI petition in 2017 to ban the cryptos.

The cryptocurrency industry in India is relieved at Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s comments that the government will take a “calibrated" approach to crypto trading in the country.

The minister said “negotiations and discussions" are going on with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on how to regulate cryptocurrency in India. “Obviously, the RBI will take a call on what kind of official currency, cryptocurrency will have to be planned and how it has to be regulated," she said in an interview with CNBC TV18 on Saturday.

Hints to regulate crypto in India

This announcement is still not public but just a assumption.So it will be great news if it happens for all the crypto users there.What are your thoughts on this?

Institutions in India need to come up with a solution to regulate cryptocurrencies. There are a lot of comments at the moment, according to which the government will do what billionaire Rakesh Dunjunwala recommends. And after that it will announce the introduction of its own official digital currency.

According to the investor, the regulators have to keep the cryptocurrencies "far away".
He believes that the regulators in his country need to take measures in this area, which includes the purchase and sale of digital currencies. The investor, known as the Indian Warren Buffett, said that would never buy Bitcoin.

[Sithara007]

India has always been fighting a losing battle. You can't just ban things and take people's freedom. There are consequences for the government's actions. Many people believe the government always wins, while I do agree generally this is true... There are open shut cases that just cannot be proven without the government breaking its own laws which it wouldn't do so blatantly. (When they do break laws it is not the "government" perse but rather certain members within the government. Bad apples can make the whole batch look bad as they say.

This movement is just due to the possible backlash they will definitely get if they pass something as Nazi/communist/propaganda as being arrested for a truly nonviolent and harmless "crime". Just because the government doesn't like something doesn't mean they can simply make it a law and make it illegal, there are procedures for these things and they take due time. They do not happen over a few weeks. Not even a few months but usually years. laws take forever to be rewritten or clean slated entirely.

Cryptocurrency is a relatively new phenomenon, and many of the ministers within the Indian government doesn't have enough knowledge on the issue. So went by the recommendations of bureaucrats such as Subhash Chandra Garg, who wanted to make ownership of Bitcoin a criminal offense, which could result in imprisonment of up to 10 years in jail. However, lately the ministers seems to have realized that they can't go by the bureaucrat recommendation alone, as it would cause great harm for everyone.

[bbc.reporter]

I reckon the only reason why the Indian government has changed from a full ban to regulation is because a ban is very difficult to enforce. They would only make criminals of their citizens.

I was hoping for a full ban so that it would be made an example of what a government should not do on behalf of saving themselves from the cryptospace hehehe. The full ban would have made cryptocoins closer to what they should be.

[0t3p0t]

The Indian government is in final stages to present the crypto bill in the parliament and there were rumours that government will impose a complete ban on trading of cryptocurrencies making it criminal offence.But however Finance minister Nirmala Sitaraman has given hints that government is in talks with RBI to regulate the usage of cryptocurrencies in the country.The supreme court has also rejected RBI petition in 2017 to ban the cryptos.

The cryptocurrency industry in India is relieved at Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s comments that the government will take a “calibrated" approach to crypto trading in the country.

The minister said “negotiations and discussions" are going on with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on how to regulate cryptocurrency in India. “Obviously, the RBI will take a call on what kind of official currency, cryptocurrency will have to be planned and how it has to be regulated," she said in an interview with CNBC TV18 on Saturday.

Hints to regulate crypto in India

This announcement is still not public but just a assumption.So it will be great news if it happens for all the crypto users there.What are your thoughts on this?

I know that same with other countries, India will adopt crypto in a positive way. Considering a huge population and economy without cryptocurrency will make them missed what crypto can offer to the economy. Tax is always there and people will also benefit the crypto related opportunities offered nowadays. Regulation of local exchanges is good as long as things are fair with it's users.

[pakhitheboss]

Some positive news surely will encourage the Indian crypto community. Earlier I was only hearing and reading a lot of negative information from the media. Since this information comes directly from the government minister, it shows they are serious about it.

[wack slacker]

India is an information technology powerhouse and has a wealth of human resources.  They have powerful crypto projects and are invested by organizations around the world.  Consideration of the use of cryptocurrencies will also facilitate the thriving of cryptocurrencies and blockchain in this country.  That I think is good and they can take advantage of regulations to get more crypto tax.

On the other hand Blockchain, Bitcoin and crypto are difficult to control so there is only a way to accept and put them in regulation.

No. India is not an IT powerhouse. US and UK can be regarded as IT powerhouses. India is well known for call centre and BPO/KPO companies, but if you talk about innovation and modern technology, then they are far behind. The problem is that the best talent India had migrated to countries such as US and UK during the 1990s, 2000s and even in the 2010s. The Indian government treat IT employees without any respect and try to squeeze out as much as they can in the form of taxes without providing anything in return. So it was only natural for the best among them, to migrate to the Western nations. Those who remain in India doesn't have the quality and they are contented with BPO/KPO jobs, toiling 60-70 hours per week.

I was confused. They have abundant and good human resources. Maybe they are slowly changing their policy to catch up with the world as they loosen crypto regulation.
Cryptocurrency is really becoming a big industry because of its applicability in all areas. I have faith that they will promote Blockchain and cryptocurrency to thrive in this country.

[kryptqnick]

Regulations don't necessarily mean that it's a good thing. When the market remains unregulated, it's probably as free as it will ever get. Nobody is prosecuted, there are no taxes or limitations. When regulations are reasonable, however, it might be worth it because by making Bitcoin fully legal, they're allowing serious businesses to operate comfortably in the area. But when the regulations are tough, I think it's worse than when there are no regulations at all. I don't know which legal force the negative statement on cryptos by the Central Bank of India has, but the intentions to regulate the market by the Minister of Finance sounded unclear (not necessarily as positive regulations).

[bryant.coleman]

I was confused. They have abundant and good human resources. Maybe they are slowly changing their policy to catch up with the world as they loosen crypto regulation.
Cryptocurrency is really becoming a big industry because of its applicability in all areas. I have faith that they will promote Blockchain and cryptocurrency to thrive in this country.

India is a country where porn, gambling, weed.etc are banned. That says a lot about their progressiveness. Having a population of 1.4 billion (growing at a rate of 2%) is useless, if the government doesn't know how to make use of their skills. They need to understand that this decade belongs to cryptocurrency and blockchain. They are doing the same mistake that they did earlier, by discouraging innovation with their outdated legislations. Perhaps the government is afraid that if they legalize cryptocurrency, then they may lose their control over the general population.

[ImmortalTJ]

By its definition and certain ascertained features, I thought Bitcoin was a decentralized and uncontrolled cryptocurrency.
How is the term regulate unrelated to the Bitcoin features? How would this regulation be carried out in India? I'm keen!

[Vishnu.Reang]

I do not understand. Has India banned crypto or wants to regulate It?

LOL.. I am from India and we are also confused about this. Two months ago, a bill was listed in the parliament website and according to that bill all the cryptocurrencies except those issued by the central bank will be illegal in India. However, cryptocurrency users have been waging a huge campaign using social media ever since, and now the government seems to have softened their stance. But still there is no confirmation from their side, only some vague statements on this topic.

[Sterbens]

One thing that the Indian government needs to pay attention to is that with the entry of bitcoin, they will feel economic growth in a better direction. However, we all know, India has always had a point of view that is quite unique from other countries. Although this news has not fully reached the public, I hope India's solution will soon pave the way for bitcoiners there.

[masterrex]

I hope that Indian Monetary authorities will consider its decision because India is one of the world's largest cryptocurrency users and it is very unfair for the Indian crypto users to deprive them of trading and using cryptocurrencies, I'm very thankful that my government's monetary authorities are not backward thinking people and has a friendlier approach toward cryptocurrency use in my country. 

[ivankoh]

I do not understand. Has India banned crypto or wants to regulate It?

LOL.. I am from India and we are also confused about this. Two months ago, a bill was listed in the parliament website and according to that bill all the cryptocurrencies except those issued by the central bank will be illegal in India. However, cryptocurrency users have been waging a huge campaign using social media ever since, and now the government seems to have softened their stance. But still there is no confirmation from their side, only some vague statements on this topic.

I have heard that Indian currency regulators are activating liquidity for bitcoin and crypto holders, and it takes 2-3 months for their people to leave the blockchain world.  It was nice to know that they adjusted and changed that view in a more positive and friendly way.  I remember, India was one of the two countries that caused the great crisis between bitcoin and crypto lovers in early 2018. Their horizons opened the door to discover bitcoin.  That means a lot to us.  Hopefully more countries will change their views and accept bitcoin.

[androyster]

There is no way India could prevent it's people from using Bitcoin.  The only way they could do that is to shut down the internet in their country and that isn't going to happen.

[Vishnu.Reang]

I have heard that Indian currency regulators are activating liquidity for bitcoin and crypto holders, and it takes 2-3 months for their people to leave the blockchain world.  It was nice to know that they adjusted and changed that view in a more positive and friendly way.  I remember, India was one of the two countries that caused the great crisis between bitcoin and crypto lovers in early 2018. Their horizons opened the door to discover bitcoin.  That means a lot to us.  Hopefully more countries will change their views and accept bitcoin.

From an Indian perspective, I would say that India needs Bitcoin, more than the other way around. If you take the cryptocurrency capitalization of $1.725 billion, only around 2% to 5% is being held by the Indian users ($35 billion to $85 billion). So it may sound that the Indian users are insignificant. But in terms of numbers, there are more than 10 million cryptocurrency users in India, and most of them are in their 20s and 30s. Many of the younger Indians view cryptocurrency as a powerful tool, which can get them out of poverty.

[adzino]

So bitcoin was unregulated in your country before? Are you sure? I mean how did you guys manage to go unregulated for almost a decade? So it was rumor all along that they are about to ban crypto currencies. Any particular reason why they think your government is going to ban crypto currencies?
Anyway, it would be better to regulate it rather than imposing a full ban. At least people will be able to trade and use it as a regular currency. Banning it completely is going to be such a stupid idea and would be really unexpected from a country that considers itself very "progressive".

[jjdub7]

I don't think India is planning to accept Bitcoin and all other cryptocurrencies. Rather, they plan to create their own cryptocurrency which will be regulated and managed by their central bank.