TL;DR Breakdown
• Since 2018, the RBI has tried to ban Bitcoin in India.
• Bitcoins in India are an alternative trading source.
India has been on and off regarding Bitcoin and decentralized currencies in general. The government has issued warnings against crypto investments. Based on this many people wonder if their commercialization is legal.
History of Bitcoin in India
By April 2018, the RBI indicated that financial institutions backed by RSI are prohibited from trading cryptocurrencies. India’s reserve claimed that the ban is for the protection of cryptocurrency users and investors. This measure was taken to prevent the user from taking risks in losing assets.
When the affected businessmen spoke out against such a measure, the RBI said this is necessary to keep the banking system intact. Two years later, the Supreme Court of India ruled for e-commerce, allowing Indian investors to use cryptocurrencies freely.
Although this was a victory for e-commerce, RBI still had many doubts. There are rumors that the Indian government is trying to completely ban electronic commerce, claiming that it is a crime and cryptocurrency helps to finance terrorist groups. In a statement, Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of Finance, says that: “The authorities and banks are negotiating on the regulation of cryptocurrencies.”
Why do Indians buy Bitcoin?
According to surveys by CoinDCX and WazirX, people between 25 and 40 years of age trade Bitcoin. Since last year, WazirX has had a 125% increase in users; with over 89% being Indian. The reasons Indians buy Bitcoin despite its regulation issues are many but among the most relevant are:
• They are attracted to the large sums of money they can earn from a passive investment. Since 2009, when Bitcoin was invented, it has not stopped increasing its capitalization, causing investors to create wealth.
• They earn capital by exchanging their local currency for digital assets. With executives like Elon Musk, Jack Dorsey, or Reid Hoffman promoting the cryptocurrency, inevitably, the Indians trust Bitcoin.
• Bitcoin has a stable Blockchain that leads to more gains than asset losses.
• The effort to make the investor a millionaire has stood out for Bitcoin since its inception. Going from being worth $0 to $53,641 attracts the Indian investor significantly.
Those in India that are looking for a way to join in Bitcoin investment can do it in several ways. There are several crypto exchange platform in India, among which the following stand out:
- WazirX: It was founded in 2018, and since 2019, it was adopted by Binance, the largest exchange in cryptocurrencies.
- CoinDCX: Controls over 200 virtual currencies, including Bitcoin, it has been operating since 2018.
- Paxful: Can safely convert your INR into Bitcoins, was founded in 2015.
Is Bitcoin legal in India?
Although the Supreme Court of India lifted the measures that prohibited the commercialization of Bitcoin, it has put other restrictions. Bitcoin is legal in India, although with complex commercialization. It is expected that with the government and banking negotiations, the investment process in Bitcoin in India will be easier.
How people can invest in BTC in India, as in other countries, is complex and depends on the investor; sometimes, the market may be rising or falling in prices, which can differentiate the minimum investment.
