In April this year, the government imposed a ban on the trading of cryptocurrencies in India and have given a three-month window to banks and other RBI regulated entities to start closing down on their business with people and companies invested in cryptocurrencies. The restrictions began their amendment on the 7th of July, last year, and this has given a big blow to the cryptocurrency market in the country.
The next blow came when one of the famous cryptocurrency exchange company named Zebpay announced that they should be shutting shop soon after this news. Suddenly everybody began to drop out of this for fear of being penalized for the same. Although you can still deal and trade in Bitcoins on Bitcoin Future Login. Now the question arises, what is the future of bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies in India?
Regulating Bitcoins and cryptocurrencies within the country is indeed a constant problem because of its decentralized nature. The government has thus taken stringent measure to protect innocent users who are duped off their money by scamsters and geeky con artists on the web. But instead of imposing a ban, it wouldve been a wise idea to devise a plan around the impending innovation happening around cryptocurrencies and blockchains.
India is not the first country to impose this ban. We are the 8th country to do so. Earlier, China had imposed a similar ban on its banks to stop supporting these activities and to shut shop immediately. As of now, bitcoin and cryptocurrency exchanges re completely banned within their country. This was started in the last quarter of 2017.
This led to companies that were earlier operating in China to flee to other countries and take shelter there. Some of these companies were BTCC China, Huobi, and OKCoin etc. South Korea however, has taken a wiser step by not banning the activity but rather creating laws around it which can enable them to monitor and control it. This attitude of South Korea and other countries like the US or Australia and even Japan has resulted in them staying steps ahead in the cryptocurrency and blockchain space.
The other side of this coin where India and China stand is that there are colossal transition happening in the blockchain and cryptocurrency space that are being missed upon. Over the counter, trades boomed through the usage of LocalBitcoins as soon as the ban took place.
The trading volumes took a considerable high jump, and it was noted that most of these trades came from first-time investors and those who had fed the bitcoin scene in China. India will be left behind in the game of blockchains and bitcoins when the world will be reaping benefits from the same. The companies involved in exchanging will move places and shift to countries like Singapore or Hong Kong and Indians will not be participating in them.
There are still websites that allow you to trade like Bitcoin Future Login which will be used by traders who wish to do so in spite of the ban being imposed in the country. The Bitcoin prices in India are much lower than what they are in the International market by $900 to $1000. This ban will encourage scamsters to dupe even more and interesting ones to go ahead and deal.
The only hope for this is that the government will revisit its decision and decide to be involved in the market by regulating cryptocurrency exchanges through laws and licenses. Experts also say that the government will regulate Bitcoin in India in stages. The companies involved in this market can breathe a sigh of relief since this will give them the backing they need from the government.
The ban seems to be a little difficult to go ahead with since Facebook intends to launch its crypto token, Libra which will encourage other big companies to follow suit and thus cannot be called as part of running a Ponzi scheme. Even if the ban is put into effect, it will be giving the existing investors at least three months to liquidate their online assets. It is also advisable to start liquidating their current holdings by 40-60% without the ban being put into effect since the prohibition can result into the prices being lowered than what it is aright now which can only mean a loss for those withdrawing then.
The government has also tried to regulate Bitcoin by conducting security checks, requesting identification from users, such as government-verified address documents, Permanent Account Numbers (PAN) or Aadhaar IDs, and sometimes even checking bank details. Private Bitcoin companies have also launched their association called the Digital Assets and Blockchain Foundation India (BFI), to educate laymen on Bitcoin benefits and usage.
Both investors and companies are hoping that the government would create a law instead of imposing a ban since it benefits both the country and the players in this space.