It looks like India and cryptocurrency are back in the news. This time, India is resorting back to its old tricks of potentially banning crypto trading.
India Seeks Full Ban on Crypto Trading
The big question is this… Didn’t the country already tread this path? While crypto trading itself was never banned within its borders, India did pass a law that prevented all standard banks and financial institutions from doing business with firms and enterprises that dabbled in crypto. If a company involved crypto in its operations, a bank was not permitted to offer any financial services to that company.
But roughly two years after this law was introduced, the Supreme Court of India deemed it unconstitutional. It was later removed from the legal books of the country, and boom! India was walking forward as one of the largest crypto leaders the world had ever seen. Trading was rising high, and it looked like crypto enthusiasts of every type had found a new home.
Now, however, the country is looking to take things in a completely new (and even harsher) direction. It’s one thing to stop banks and financial firms from offering services to crypto businesses, but to fully ban crypto trading altogether? That’s a massive step in the wrong direction.
What India doesn’t appear to understand is that crypto, whether it likes it or not, is here to stay. The idea of digital currency has made its way so deeply into the notions of modern-day society that now banks are even being given the greenlight to offer crypto custody services to customers. If the country goes so far as to say “no” to crypto trading of any type, it will seriously fall behind not only its neighbors, but most other nations.
Several Asian countries, for example, have chosen not to ban crypto but to regulate it. They have likely reached the conclusion that regardless of what the rules and regulations are, people will always find a way to trade digital currencies. They will always find methods of getting their fingers on bitcoin, Ethereum and several other digital entities, and thus, banning it outright is pointless.
This Will Set the Country Behind
Instead, the idea is to ensure trading is handled in a safe way. If theft is a major concern, regulators need to step forward and develop plans to ensure methods of theft are obliterated or at least limited.
But India is instead taking a very old-fashioned route. While it is promoting blockchain technology, it is clearly not a fan of the assets that come with each blockchain and is looking to ensure they are fully removed from the monetary plane. The bill proposing the ban will likely be discussed first by the federal cabinet before it then makes its way to the parliamentary system where a decision will be solidified.
