The repeal of a blanket ban on cryptocurrencies in March by India’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India, has been a boon to the thriving crypto industry in India — with the launch of new exchanges being a catalyst.
This is despite the country being one of the most severely affected nations by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has led to a deepening economic crisis across the nation. For investors and fintech innovators alike, cryptocurrency and blockchain technology have proven to be a much-needed respite in these challenging times.
A rumor of a note that was moved within the Ministry of Finance for intradepartmental consultation regarding a draft law that sought to ban all cryptocurrency-related activity — with a heavy fine or even a jail term of up to 10 years for offenders — had been swirling around, but it has recently been debunked.
Regulatory Uncertainty
Corporate advisory firm AKM Global said that if the law gets passed in its current form, it “would completely decimate the crypto-industry in India.” This rumor brought back fears to the crypto community. However, Nischal Shetty, the CEO of crypto exchange WazirX, maintains faith in the government, telling Cointelegraph in an email exchange:
“On the day the news about the ‘note’ broke out, it created some panic among the community. But that’s all. We are not seeing any difference in the trading behavior on WazirX since then. There have been speculations about the crypto ban in the past as well. With more than 5 million crypto users in India, I’m confident that our Prime Minister won’t let us down.”
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In India, blockchain technology has been embraced in various economic sectors like education and trade. Therefore, it is evident that the unique selling points of blockchain technology are being implemented, but skepticism surrounding cryptocurrency still exists. Elaborating on this, Gaurav Dahake, the CEO of crypto exchange Bitbns, stated:
“There’s confusion in terms of understanding the whole sector. Blockchain is good, cryptocurrency is bad seems to be the overall understanding, and traditional media has blown things out of proportion. Concerns revolve around money laundering, use in illicit activities. We as exchanges have tried addressing this.”
