By
Andy Watson
April 26th, 2024
The new report of a possible crypto ban in India contradicted India’s finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s thoughts on the crypto industry.
International news outlet Reuters has recently reported that India is set to implement a crypto ban in the country. As a result, the entire crypto industry dipped in a single digit. Bitcoin is down approximately 7% in the past few hours to trade around $56,176.97.
However, it may be just another ‘FUD’ all meant to create an opportunity for others to buy Bitcoin cheaper as observed during the 2017/3018 bull run. Besides, the largest crypto exchange Binance CEO CZ previously warned of possible FUDs in circulation. “It’s not a bull market without some FUD. Ignore FUD, keep BUIDLing,” CZ advised his followers through a tweet two days ago.
Reuters noted that a senior government official admitted that the proposed bill suggests that Indians caught trading or holding digital assets will be fined. The implementation of such a law would not only be a huge blow to one of the most populous countries in the world but also to the entire crypto industry.
India and Crypto Ban
It is estimated that India’s population is equivalent to 17.7% of the total world population. Over 80% of Indians are banked. The possible cause for fear resulted in the market sell-off on Monday.
Moreover, traders might be right just in case a significant portion of the Indian population is blocked from accessing the crypto industry. However, it is not clear on which methodology the country will ban trading and holding digital assets while most blockchain projects have minimal KYC authentication. Besides, one can store cryptocurrencies without the government ever noting any transaction.
Mind you, a month ago the Nigerian Central Bank tried to ban cryptocurrency trading in the country but the parliamentarians found no ground for banning the entire industry. The decentralized nature of the blockchain and crypto protocols have helped significantly shape the latter’s growth.
Worth noting, the new report of a possible crypto ban in India contradicted India’s finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s thoughts on the crypto industry:
“We are not closing our minds. We are certainly looking at ways in which experimentations can happen in the digital world, in cryptocurrency, and so on.”
The Indian government has not been receptive to cryptocurrency adoption. Earlier last year, India’s Supreme Court ruled against directives by the Reserve Bank Of India to ban digital assets in the country. During the ruling, the Supreme Court bench noted, “When the consistent stand of RBI is that they have not banned virtual currencies (VCs) and when the Government of India is unable to take a call despite several committees coming up with several proposals including two draft bills, both of which advocated exactly opposite positions, it is not possible for us to hold that the impugned measure is proportionate.”
For now, only time can tell whether the report of a possible crypto ban in India is true or false.