What India's proposed Bitcoin ban means for the future of independent digital assets

As recently reported, the budget session of the lower house of India’s bicameral Parliament kicked off with a piece of rather alarming news for Bitcoiners in India when it listed a bill that seems to ban private Cryptocurrencies. Although no particular digital asset was named, the likes of Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (Eth), and many other Cryptocurrencies fall into the aforementioned category.

Parts of the government’s plans were documented in a payment system booklet drafted and issued back in January. Excerpts from it read;

“Private digital currencies have gained popularity in recent years, in India, the regulators and governments have been sceptical about these currencies and are apprehensive about the associated risks.”

To add salt to injury, the Reserve Bank of India is now considering the creation and implementation of a digital fiat currency. Key players in the industry are particularly worried that this could potentially stifle the growth of Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. 

This is also a pointer to the future of digital assets worldwide. Like India, many other countries have revealed their plans to create Central Bank digital currencies. It is possible that this could birth an increased competition from the government, as a response to the domination of private digital assets. However, Bitcoin’s decentralized structure seems to give it an edge when it comes to global adoption.

The ban, if implemented, could take the country backward by several steps. Should India adopt this policy, it will be the only Asian economy to ban private Cryptocurrencies.

It also goes on to defeat the progress made when the 2018 Bitcoin ban – halting the use of banks for Crypto-related payment- was ruled out in March of last year. 

Bitcoin’s mild decline on Friday, which came after Musk’s Bitcoin Bio change sent the big bull to the $37,000 levels has since been linked to the news, which analysts claim may have caused Indian investors to go into panic mode.

Many Indian-based Cryptocurrency personalities have talked about the proposed ban which they all collectively consider unjust and unnecessary.

Nischal Shetty, the founder of WazirX, an Indian-based crypto-exchange has spoken out against the ban. In his words;

“There’s no such thing as a “private cryptocurrency”.

Crypto by their very nature are decentralised and public. 

I hope this is with respect to “currency” usage and they’re focusing on that. 

Attacking digital assets by confusing them to be INR competitors wud be amateurish.”

Bitcoin has grown in popularity in India over the past few years. The country recorded a 234% upsurge in trading volume last year, reflecting that adoption was indeed increasing. In this regard, Shetty noted the need for India to adopt digital advancements like Bitcoin.

“A country as large as India should at least work on understanding the underlying terminologies before presenting Technology related bills in Parliament. 

Seems like a hurried move. 

If done wrong, this can potentially destroy a lot of value held by the general public.” He said.

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