The State Bank of India has announced the need to regulate the country’s cryptocurrency market. Rajnish Kumar, State Bank of India’s chairman claims that crypto regulation will help tackle the illegal use of cryptocurrency in the country.
The government of India affirmed the progress of a new legislation earlier this year that would completely ban digital currencies. The establishment set sanctions in place for individuals who would violate the new guidelines. An estimated fine of $3.6 million and a prison term of up to 10 years would be imposed on anyone violating the new bill. The residents of India were notified to get rid of all digital assets and cryptocurrencies within 90 days. The bill will become effective in January 2020.
Rajnish Kumar asserts that as the world is progressing towards digitalization, a regulated digital currency would be better than an unregulated one, supporting the claim that the Indian government should not ban digital assets.
The former finance secretary of India, Subhash Chandra Garg, approved of the ban in a comment he made, claiming that private cryptocurrencies hold no real value. The comment was not received well, and critics were quick to point out that cryptocurrencies and digital assets are increasingly becoming the primary source of income for many people in India, given the growing unemployment rate.
Reactions from the Indian Crypto Community
Nischal Shetty, the CEO and co-founder of the popular Indian crypto exchange WazirX opposes the ban and claims that the proposed bill can be potentially damaging for over 5 million investors. Along with individuals, the bill can also discredit hard work of 20,000 software developers and hundreds of digital-based companies. He proposes that the government should take measures to regulate cryptocurrency instead to avoid illegal activities, concluding that innovators are not criminals.
The Indian platform for Blockchain and Crypto Regulatory News and Analysis has listed a number of employment opportunities India will lose if and when the bill will be fully effective. The CEO of CREBACO Global Inc, Sidharth Sogani, claims that if proper regulations of crypto are implemented, the country can gain $12.9 billion in total revenue. Shetty started a country-wide campaign on social media platforms to supoort the cryptocurrency industry in India.
Users in India have joined in and thousands of tweets addressed to the Indian government are sent on a daily basis, demanding the lift on the ban of cryptocurrencies. One such tweet reads, ‘The more we tweet, more chances of our voice being heard & crypto getting a positive regulation in India.’
