There have been constant rumors doing the rounds that the Indian Government is planning on banning cryptocurrencies and marking all sorts of transactions in cryptocurrencies as illegal. This has been going on since last year without any official confirmation. But the Indian traders and crypto enthusiasts don’t seem to be worried as the number of people visiting the local crypto exchanges has increased with an increase in transactions as well.
The local media reported about a bill that asks the government to ban cryptocurrencies and regulate all digital assets. The news spread fast, and most of the media outlets were showing the news, and there were tons of discussions going on over and over again in the crypto communities in the country.
But the response to the news is strange as people seem unaffected by the news. On the contrary, there has been an increase in the number of people using cryptocurrencies, according to Nischal Shetty, CEO of local crypto exchange Wazirx. He says that their exchange saw the highest trading volume during this April.
According to Shetty, people aren’t treating this news as FUD as they faced similar news back in October last year. People are awaiting the official announcement from the government, and until then the business will be normal. No such news will be paid attention to until it’s someone from the financial department of the Indian government speaking.
Is the Media cooking up the news?
Many people seem to think that there is no such bill in the parliament and the media is just cooking up the news. There had been similar news making the rounds in October last year, and there was no confirmation from the Government then, and there’s none now. It seems plausible that media outlets are doing this to stir discussion about cryptocurrencies.
The CEO of crypto exchange Zebpay, Ajeet Khurana recently told Mickey news outlet that he has spoken to all top-level executives in the Ministry of Finance, the Central Bank and the securities regulators. He says that they do have some misgiving towards cryptocurrencies, but they have never once spoken of any plans of Banning the cryptocurrencies in the country.
In April last year, the Reserve bank of India issued a circular prohibiting regulated financial institutions from providing services to crypto businesses. This came into effect in July. The crypto market has been in uncertainty since then. The strangest thing is that RBI never did any research on cryptocurrencies before issuing the circular.