Nasscom president said that cryptocurrencies are illegal and asked firms to comply with the law. The association later issued a clarification.
Statement from the Association President
Debjani Ghosh, Nasscom (The National Association of Software and Services Companies) president, earlier on Thursday said that cryptocurrencies were illegal and advised companies to comply with the local laws. The news appeared in most Indian media publications.
She said:
It is law of the land, and hence, we have to work with it. If we do not agree, we have to go back to the government and speak about why cryptocurrencies aren’t correct.
This statement came in response to the fear within the blockchain companies who reportedly have reached out to Nasscom, the trade association of software and IT enables services.
Ghosh further said:
The genesis of this problem, however, lies in the failure of policy-making not keeping pace with rapid technological changes. Nasscom’s focus would be to say, how do you synergize technological development and policy making. I think that will be our focus.
The same night Nasscom clarified through a Twitter post that the statements made by its president did not reflect its position but that she had only cited the stance of the central bank.
Growing FUD in India
The cryptocurrency situation in India is getting no better. In July, the country’s central bank – RBI (Reserve Bank of India) stopped the banks from conducting business with the centralized crypto exchanges. The trade volumes on the exchanges dropped by close to 90%.
A few exchanges launched peer-to-peer platforms while one of the largest exchanges Zebpay shut down operations in India and moved to Malta. The oldest cryptocurrency exchange Unocoin took a different path – they decided to deploy crypto ATMs.
Within a few days of launching the first ATM in Bengaluru, the founders of the company Sathvik Viswanath and B V Harish were arrested.
The Only Hope for the Indian Crypto Community
The exchanges together had raised a petition in the country’s apex court challenging the RBI’s circular, and the hearing which was scheduled for 11th September kept getting rescheduled due to the massive backlog of high priority cases.
Finally, the case was heard in the Supreme court on 25th October, and the court has asked the Government of India to file a counter affidavit within two weeks with details of its stand on digital assets including the recommendations of the panel set up by them.
Amidst all the FUD and confusion, a favorable judgment by the court for the exchanges is the last chance for the cryptocurrency industry in India. An unfavorable judgement might prove to be the last nail in the coffin.
What are your thoughts on the growing uncertainty in India? Let us know in the comments below.
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