- Tuesday, April 23, 2024
By: Eastern Eye Staff
Every year since 2009, the world has been exponentially expanding its demand for Cryptocurrencies. Ever since the first spike in Bitcoins’ value, the world has witnessed the value potential of these digital currencies for the first time. Many people were not happy when they realized how much money they could have made if they bought Bitcoins on time.
It is quickly determined that one of the most significant demands for cryptocurrencies was at that time. India is one such country, and in the last couple of years, crypto traders have been battling with the Indian government over the right to trade and use cryptocurrencies. So what exactly happened, and why? What is the current state of trading cryptocurrencies in India?
India’s road to Cryptocurrency
To understand India’s position regarding cryptocurrencies, one must understand the role of all strong governments in the world. The government that holds a firm grip over its citizens will naturally have a lot against a currency outside of their reach and control. So it is no wonder to know that these countries have had trouble trying to get in the cryptocurrency game. While some countries settled on setting strong regulations on cryptocurrencies, India has banned cryptocurrencies since 2018 altogether. The state has banned the national bank from trading on cryptocurrencies but also banned all crypto transactions. This was all a response to a string of frauds that happened in India, all involving cryptocurrencies. However, this ban was contested by the lawsuit of cryptocurrency exchanges, and they have won respite in March this year.
The removal of the ban
When the ban removal was done seemingly by many Asian countries with similar positions, they have done a similar thing. For example, China banned all cryptocurrencies along with all ICO ( initial coin offerings ) back in 2017 only to allow Bitcoin trading as virtual property not too long ago. That resulted in fast changes in the way the whole country functions and how they are positioned in the world of the stock market.
This change in India caused a surge of cryptocurrency transactions for over 400% in April and May. This new trend revived analysts’ old concerns that a lot of Indians are risking their life savings and their jobs on something as fragile and new as Cryptocurrency. The situation started to worsen amidst Coronavirus Pandemic, putting the new traders and crypto enthusiasts in a position where any loss would cause a lot bigger financial problems due to the world’s unique nature.
The future of Indian Cryptocurrency
The situation of cryptocurrency trading in India has been quite unstable, and this has caused India to miss out on many of the benefits that might come from Cryptocurrencies. For example, the rise of cryptocurrencies in Africa has brought many different investors over to the continent, and with it, a massive influx of money came to Africa. However, India cannot say the same thing. Even though investments are coming to India, they are still slow and too far in between.
What is the main reason?
This happens because investors are unsure of how the government will react in the future to Cryptocurrencies. Investing now and hoping there will not be another ban is a risk no investor is willing to take. It looks like this can only be solved by a firm, decisive position of the government towards cryptocurrencies. What might be even worse for crypto investors is that the bill that was supposed to be voted on a few weeks ago regarding cryptocurrency regulation was canceled. Many stories are circulating about another ban coming. Indian cryptocurrency trading is not the brightest, but the story is long, we believe, and only time will tell.
