India vows to bans bitcoin in its crack down on cryptocurrencies
Indian finance minister Arun Jaitley has announced the Indian government will do everything to discontinue the use of bitcoin in a move to eliminate crypto-assets that finance illegitimate activities, while still backing exploration of blockchain technology.
“The government does not recognise cryptocurrency as legal tender or coin and will take all measures to eliminate the use of these crypto assets in financing illegitimate activities or as part of the payments system.
“The government will explore use of blockchain technology proactively for ushering in digital economy.”
Although no official ban was in place yet, the government will look to put a stop to trading in cryptocurrency, especially where it may be put to criminals use.
The country’s central bank had already warned users about potential risks of crypto transactions and had started to look into a series of illegal bitcoin exchanges in December.
The Income Tax Department in India burst into some bitcoin exchange centres in different cities of the country to check the traders transactions and check for any illegal activity.
This announcement may be another hit for bitcoin which has experienced intense losses in the first month of 2018.
India is home to a large number of bitcoin traders and investors, with one in ten bitcoin transactions said to be made from the South Asian country.
India is not the first country to take measures against bitcoin South Korea recently announced its intention to regulate trade of crypto assets and prevent like money laundering. On the other hand, China has banned the cryptocurrency altogether, which together with South Korea's crackdown saw Bitcoin's price plummet halve in January.
Bitcoin has experienced some falls since the announcement, pushing the price below $9,500 after going over $10,300 on Wednesday.