You may have seen several hashtags on the internet, like #Indiawantscrypto or #IndiawantsBitcoin. The reason why it became active in recent years is derived from the state decision and as a matter of fact, the Reserve Bank officially banned the usage of digital coins. The trade-in cryptocurrencies are prohibited on the domestic level but can be used only for international exchange.
No matter how ironic it may sound, in 2016 Indian government was the one who uplifted the popularity of cryptocurrencies due to the demonetization reform.
Why did cryptocurrency become popular in India from the beginning?
It was 2013 when Bitcoin was first introduced in India. The government attitude and policy towards the new digital coin was shifty, which, itself, describes the current situation regarding cryptocurrencies. The government warned the citizens about the security problem which could be caused by the usage of digital coins but did not impose any regulations. From the beginning they were even fond of new technology, this is why people started using cryptocurrencies and the demand increased dramatically.
The above-mentioned fact even gave hands to online Bitcoin casinos and a new era of gambling with bitcoin in India began because people were tired of the lengthy, traditional way of gambling. This was caused due to the decentralization of currency which gives the opportunity for safe, simple, and quick transactions. Those three years in India are known as the “Golden Era” for cryptocurrencies, however, it did not last too long.
In 2017 rumors started that the government was planning to impose regulations on the usage of digital coins, and as a result, trade went negative and the price dropped.
What happened after 2017?
The rumors in 2017, that the government was planning to control the cryptocurrency market, led the bitcoin price to reduce and the price became volatile over several months. After a year of vagueness, the government finally made clear announcements about the crypto regulations. As a result, the Supreme Court of India declared that the petition, which was signed by a large percentage of people, who were involved in the industry, was not legitimate and the RBI (Reserve Bank India) officially imposed the ban.
Results
The result was not harmful only for those who were investing/trading with cryptocurrencies on international platforms. Because of the high demand on the market, in many regions where online gambling was prohibited, it gave hands to those, who could use that to their advantage. The demand for online BTC casinos was so high that several regions, such as Daman, Goa, Sikkim, Kerala made it legalized. The Government decision was appealed by people several times, but without any result so far.
Conclusion
After all of those decisions, vetoes, bans, and regulations which were imposed by the RBI and Indian government, BTC statistics have changed several times. The regulations were justified by the Indian government several times in 2019 as the BTC price was steadily low, however, many changes have happened during 2020 in terms of using the cryptocurrencies. After Elon Musk made the statement, about the advantages of using digital coins and implemented BTC based payment for his own company, Tesla, the Bitcoins price has reached its historic maximum of nearly 50,000 USD. Because of this, it is expected the Indian government to soften the bans on cryptocurrencies as it is already becoming widely spread and used all over the world.
