The cryptocurrency industry is booming in India, with trade volumes soaring, more than 300 crypto businesses hiring and up to 10 million investors pouring about $1.5 billion in cryptocurrencies. India has been estimated to have over 10M + crypto investors, and this number is snowballing every day.
ryptocurrencies are not illegal; anybody can buy, sell and trade cryptocurrencies. It’s unregulated; we do not have a regulatory framework to govern its functioning for now. However, the Indian government is exploring crypto regulation. Meanwhile, crypto exchanges like CoinSwitch Kuber have been key in supporting the government and helping investors join the bandwagon by self-regulating and obliging a thorough KYC check for all their investors.
Was cryptocurrency ever banned?
cryptocurrencies were in a very nascent stage, and the regulators were yet to decipher their adoption. To curb the rise in illicit activities, the government took measures that they thought were best at the time.
In 2018, The Finance Ministry released a statement saying:
“ The Government does not consider Cryptocurrencies “as Legal Tender or Coin” and will take all measures to eliminate the use of these Crypto Assets in Financing “Illegitimate Activities” or a Part of the Payment System The Government will explore the use of Blockchain technology proactively for assuring in Digital Economy.”
Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told the India Today Conclave that — while regulations were coming — the government would not “shut off all cryptocurrency” as it recognized that many financial technology (fintech) companies need to experiment with blockchain technology.
The finance ministry “will allow certain windows for people to do experiments on blockchain, bitcoins, or cryptocurrency,” she said, according to Business Standard.
The council — whose members include Bitex, CoinDCX, Paxful, Unocoin and WazirX — saw the decision as a sign that the government is moving towards an acceptance of cryptocurrencies that will help the industry to grow.
The government was never against the technology; they intended to prevent the wrong usage of cryptocurrencies and blockchain. It nowhere said that buying, selling or holding cryptocurrencies were prohibited. They said that they are taking measures to eradicate the use of crypto in financing illegal activities: a great step towards a healthy crypto ecosystem. They said they don’t consider it as a part of the payment system. Meaning one can’t use crypto to buy and sell things; however, they never said it couldn’t be held as an asset.
