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Topic: [2021-03-15] [Reuters] India to propose cryptocurrency ban, penalising miners (Read 580 times)

legendary
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A number of banks are now suspending their support for cryptocurrency exchanges.

https://www.firstpost.com/tech/news-analysis/paytm-payments-bank-suspends-support-for-cryptocurrency-exchanges-why-banks-in-india-are-retreating-from-digital-currencies-9641521.html

The latest one to refuse banking service to cryptocurrency users is Paytm Payments Bank. There was a statement from one of the exchanges a few days back, that they will be unable to use (deposit/withdraw) PayTM for transfers. There is not yet any official announcement from the government regarding the ban on banking services. So if the banks are doing this, then they might have received some insider information.
member
Activity: 237
Merit: 67
Let's create the Indie Metaverse!
In this regard, kindly note that the Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha has not yet moved towards penalizing bitcoin holders. The was an inter-ministerial committee formed which had prepared the draft bill wherein it provided for banning of crypto currencies and penalizing holders. However, even this bill provides for a exit window for existing investors which was later confirmed by Anurag Thakur, Minister of State for Finance. You can check Section 21 of the proposed bill for this portion.

But this bill in fact proposes to penalize everyone involved in crypto related activities, including miners. We can only hope that this bill gets redrafted once government comes to senses.

Also, while there is lot of speculation on this top, I would suggest one should focus more on the facts rather than the opinions of certain people. I have collated the facts of the ban in India in this article and have provided the link to the proposed bill as well: https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/guide-on-crypto-banprohibition-in-india-so-far-only-facts-and-press-releases-5339221
legendary
Activity: 3766
Merit: 1217
In any case, at this stage of the fight against the pandemic that has swept India so hard, it would be wrong to deprive those who can feed their families from this source of income, or even part of the income. I cannot say that I am deeply immersed in this issue, you are much more aware, but reasoning logically - any way to give the population earning remotely, without leaving their homes, without risking their lives and the lives of those around it, is important. I hope this does not happen this year, and by the time the COVID-19 crisis subsides, the perception of this cryptocurrency problem may have already changed.

If you know how things work in India, you will not post something like this. In India, the freelancers are under all sort of harassment and this is not a new phenomenon. This has been the case for the last 3 decades. The government of India doesn't want freelancing, because it deprives them of valuable tax revenue. When an individual do freelancing, he is liable to pay only the income tax. On the other hand, the IT companies need to pay around 70%-80% of their revenue in various taxes like VAT, GST, Export duty.etc. The government even banned PayPal because of this. Now they are targeting Bitcoin, because many of the freelancers are receiving their income in the form of BTC.
full member
Activity: 490
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In any case, at this stage of the fight against the pandemic that has swept India so hard, it would be wrong to deprive those who can feed their families from this source of income, or even part of the income. I cannot say that I am deeply immersed in this issue, you are much more aware, but reasoning logically - any way to give the population earning remotely, without leaving their homes, without risking their lives and the lives of those around it, is important. I hope this does not happen this year, and by the time the COVID-19 crisis subsides, the perception of this cryptocurrency problem may have already changed.
legendary
Activity: 3346
Merit: 1352
Leading Crypto Sports Betting & Casino Platform
Against the background of the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in India, such a decision would be completely untimely. People have already lost their income due to the closure of businesses and due to the inability to work. While working with cryptocurrency and trading online could help a large number of Indians get income in this difficult time for the country. I hope that the decision, even if it is made, will not be taken in such a difficult period.

Well.. the ban was not proposed very recently. It was first proposed in 2018 by the then Finance Secretary of India, Subhash Chandra Garg. He wanted the government to impose a jail term of 10 years to anyone found to be in the possession of cryptocurrency. Bureaucrats such as Mr. Garg believes that ordinary Indians should have no financial freedom and should dance to the whims and fancies of people like him. Unfortunately, Mr. Garg was kicked out of office, when he entered in to a spat with one right-wing politician.

We thought that the government would change it's stance towards the cryptocurrency, but it never happened. The bureaucrat who succeeded Mr. Garg also followed the same policy, of not allowing cryptocurrency in India. Finally the law was finalized and uploaded to the parliament website in January 2021. But there was a strong social media campaign against it, and the finance minister was forced to put it on hold. But we don't know when they will resuscitate the law and table it in the parliament.
legendary
Activity: 3094
Merit: 1127
Against the background of the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in India, such a decision would be completely untimely. People have already lost their income due to the closure of businesses and due to the inability to work. While working with cryptocurrency and trading online could help a large number of Indians get income in this difficult time for the country. I hope that the decision, even if it is made, will not be taken in such a difficult period.
Untimely? Yes it is but government wont really be realizing once decision had been made then they would really push through it and also not majority of india citizens are much aware with crypto
for us to say that they would really be needing some source of income and that wont really be able to compensate but well it is better to have than nothing at all.For now the current situation
they are in when it comes to pandemic then they are really on a very hard situation but proposing that crypto ban, i doubt that it wont  really be changed.
sr. member
Activity: 658
Merit: 251
Against the background of the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in India, such a decision would be completely untimely. People have already lost their income due to the closure of businesses and due to the inability to work. While working with cryptocurrency and trading online could help a large number of Indians get income in this difficult time for the country. I hope that the decision, even if it is made, will not be taken in such a difficult period.
legendary
Activity: 4228
Merit: 1313
On the one hand, such a decision can be caused by excessive consumption of electricity and accidents after a high load on the power grid. On the other hand, the state, solving this problem, creates risks for itself to miss out on great opportunities for the budget (replenishment by new taxpayers) and the country's population (creation of new jobs), as well as increasing the level of income of citizens. Difficult decision - but apparently they weighed everything well before making it. Only time will tell whether they were right or wrong, we'll see.

The decision can be blamed on consumption of electricity and accidents, but they are lying.

Don't believe their excuse.  The Indian government doesn't like gold or bitcoin because it removes people and their assets from the government's control.  There is no excess power consumption with gold, yet there are restrictions on gold in India.  The real thing to note is that they don't believe in freedom and the power of individuals to decide things for themselves.  They want to be able to take "just a small percentage" from each of the 1.4 billion Indians every year through inflation with no one being able to protect themselves. 

Monopolies are bad, but government monopolies on currencies are worse.  It indicates that the governments don't trust the people - or perhaps they do trust the people, but they value their own power and money more than freedom for everyone else.  They want to enslave entire populations and the world to satisfy their own psychological control freak mental issues.  The politicians in Indian (everywhere else too) are NOT looking out for the people of India, they are looking out for themselves. 
sr. member
Activity: 1988
Merit: 453
I have to remind everyone that till now, there is no clear clarification on the status of cryptocurrency in India. For the last one month, there has been no additional statements on this subject, either from the finance minister or from the bureaucrats. Meanwhile, the number of cryptocurrency users have rocketed upwards in various Indian exchanges. For the first time, I am seeing ads for various exchanges in mainstream Indian TV channels.
legendary
Activity: 3542
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Leading Crypto Sports Betting & Casino Platform
There are so much FUD doing the rounds now.... because 5 hours ago... this was posted : https://cointelegraph.com/news/india-to-have-a-window-for-bitcoin-says-minister-amid-crypto-ban-fud

I quote : " In a Saturday interview with India Today, Sitharaman emphasized that the ministry does not plan to shut off Indian innovations associated with Bitcoin (BTC) and its underlying blockchain technology. " - Minister of finance of India

We know most of this is political games to garner votes for their election ....so mixed messages will be rife during these times. We also know the India government is very complex. (One says this and the other something totally different)  Roll Eyes

Let's not over react on Internet FUD...... and just go on as normal.  Wink

the government of india wants blockchain, but they want to ban bitcoin and altcoins but without that in the process of banning bitcoin and altcoins they do not ban the technologies that come from bitcoin or altcoins. I commented on this in the last post that the government of India is striving to have its own altcoin (its own digital currency) because they are a radical government that takes sovereignty issues very seriously and intend to have the greatest possible control over their people. but at the same time the government of india wants some technologies coming from bitcoin or altcoins



It is easy to understand government like that of India, for the government of India they must be thinking about the following: why should the people of India use something decentralized and created by anonymous people? this will hurt the country’s sovereignty, so they’re going to force their people to use the digital currency they’re going to create.

and in political terms no doubt that the government of india must be thinking that the more its people use cryptocurrencies that are decentralized the greater the risk that its people will start to demand that in their country government policies are more decentralized and transparent and start demanding more freedoms, and I doubt whether the government of India is willing to be more decentralized, to give greater freedoms to its people

Sorry for the late response to your post, but I only saw this now. To answer your question on why the government of India should accept a decentralized Crypto currency like Bitcoin.. well the answer is simple.

The world are moving to a global Crypto currency (Bitcoin BTC) when you look at the statistics internationally. Seeing that India has one of the highest unemployment statistics in the world and also the latest Covid shock.. they would be wise to give their economy a boost and also for their tax income. (Bitcoin creates informal jobs on a international scale and that money can boost India's economy)  Wink
legendary
Activity: 3346
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Leading Crypto Sports Betting & Casino Platform
I would like to wish India to get out of this issue without prohibitions and restrictions. The world is rapidly developing and integrating cryptocurrency into its economy. You can give a lot of examples of such integration, including already large and world-famous companies that connect the ability to pay for their goods and services with cryptocurrency. I would not like India to follow the path of prohibitions. I wish you to find a compromise third way that would suit both the bureaucracy and market participants. Good luck!

There is still no clarity about the issue. The finance minister was scheduled to table a bill, that would ban the possession of cryptocurrency during the budget session second phase (March 8 - April 8, 2021). But the bill was not tabled during this session, probably due to the social media campaign from the cryptocurrency users. The bureaucrats are still adamant about the ban, but as of now the politicians are not agreeing with them. Let's hope that there will be some clarity on this issue during the next few months.
sr. member
Activity: 658
Merit: 251
I would like to wish India to get out of this issue without prohibitions and restrictions. The world is rapidly developing and integrating cryptocurrency into its economy. You can give a lot of examples of such integration, including already large and world-famous companies that connect the ability to pay for their goods and services with cryptocurrency. I would not like India to follow the path of prohibitions. I wish you to find a compromise third way that would suit both the bureaucracy and market participants. Good luck!
sr. member
Activity: 1988
Merit: 453
The difference between a guess and a statement is big. I'm not an expert on India, but these two options just came to my mind first. After rereading the thread, I realized this is that the economy does not play any role in this issue, only politics, and as I understand it, individual groups advocate that this is prohibited (mainly by the top) and the rapidly growing middle class, on the contrary, organizes a struggle for the right to use and against close from bitcoin and etherium. What about the fact that I have no place on the forum - a very loud and harsh statement))) I study here and do not teach anyone. So there is no need to distribute such recommendations, with all due respect to the status.

Being a resident of India, I can say that this is not entirely correct. It was not individual groups which advocated for the ban, but the bureaucrats. In India, most of the economic and financial decisions are being made by the bureaucrats and not by the politicians. And this ban was first proposed by Subhash Chandra Garg (the former Finance Secretary of India). Normally the decisions taken by these bureaucrats are made in to laws, but this time some of the ministers raised an objection. So we don't know how it will turn up in the end.
full member
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The difference between a guess and a statement is big. I'm not an expert on India, but these two options just came to my mind first. After rereading the thread, I realized this is that the economy does not play any role in this issue, only politics, and as I understand it, individual groups advocate that this is prohibited (mainly by the top) and the rapidly growing middle class, on the contrary, organizes a struggle for the right to use and against close from bitcoin and etherium. What about the fact that I have no place on the forum - a very loud and harsh statement))) I study here and do not teach anyone. So there is no need to distribute such recommendations, with all due respect to the status.
legendary
Activity: 3766
Merit: 1217
On the one hand, such a decision can be caused by excessive consumption of electricity and accidents after a high load on the power grid. On the other hand, the state, solving this problem, creates risks for itself to miss out on great opportunities for the budget (replenishment by new taxpayers) and the country's population (creation of new jobs), as well as increasing the level of income of citizens. Difficult decision - but apparently they weighed everything well before making it. Only time will tell whether they were right or wrong, we'll see.

You are 100% wrong. There are no large scale Bitcoin mining farms in India (although there may be some small-scale individual miners). So the argument that this proposal was a result of excessive consumption of electricity is laughable. In the previous posts various users have posted in detail why the government came up with such a measure. If you still support this measure, then I am not sure what you are doing here in Bitcointalk.
full member
Activity: 490
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On the one hand, such a decision can be caused by excessive consumption of electricity and accidents after a high load on the power grid. On the other hand, the state, solving this problem, creates risks for itself to miss out on great opportunities for the budget (replenishment by new taxpayers) and the country's population (creation of new jobs), as well as increasing the level of income of citizens. Difficult decision - but apparently they weighed everything well before making it. Only time will tell whether they were right or wrong, we'll see.
legendary
Activity: 3346
Merit: 1352
Leading Crypto Sports Betting & Casino Platform
I know all about that, he was also very active here on bitcointalk, but with the updates and when he came back it didn't sound like his guilt was certain. Could have been the wrong person at the wrong time.

I have also the same opinion. Even after he was back (after his arrest he has made only a few posts) he continued to help users against various frauds in Indian P2P platforms. I know him as one of the most helpful Indian bitcoiners, who helped a lot of people who lost their money to scammers. Obviously when you deal in P2P, you don't know much about the criminal background of the other trader. There is a good chance that you sold your BTC for "dirty money" and I guess this is what happened to Pankaj Bhardwaj (escrow.ms).

Essentially this sums up the issue in India. Users are forced to rely on P2P platforms, because of harassment from the authorities. And this in turn makes them vulnerable to scams and frauds.
legendary
Activity: 3472
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I know all about that, he was also very active here on bitcointalk, but with the updates and when he came back it didn't sound like his guilt was certain. Could have been the wrong person at the wrong time.
legendary
Activity: 3374
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I stand with Ukraine.
^^^ India do have the second highest number of internet users and it is having the cheapest rates for mobile internet (3G/4G). On top of that, India is home to tens of millions of IT engineers. If the government was at least a bit more friendly towards cryptocurrency, then it could have resulted in huge number of new jobs and billions of USD in tax revenue for the authorities. But as of now, the cryptocurrency users in India face all sort of harassment from the authorities.

I'm sorry about that, and it was never my intention to belittle the struggle you fight there. I can't say it better so I'll cite the words by Carlton Banks from above:

~
Stand tall Indians, the government are scared of how powerful Indian bitcoiners are

I know it won't be easy, but I'm sure that sooner or later you, Indian bitcoiners, will win.
sr. member
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Has he actually been convicted and was he actually guilty? When the story first broke of his arrest it seemed he may have been a scammer but there was no certainty about it.

Don't have any recent information related to escrow.ms (his real name is Pankaj Bhardwaj). He was arrested in 2016, but he used to be one of the most trustworthy Bitcoin traders in India during the 2012-15 period. I don't know what happened after that. He used to play a very important role in Coinsecure, but they removed him after his arrest.

Here is the original thread in Bitcointalk that deals with his arrest:
https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/warning-pankaj-bhardwaj-alias-escrowms-has-been-arrested-dont-escrow-him-1359865

And here is a news article which deals with the same topic:
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Card-frauds-used-bitcoins-to-trade-money/articleshow/50922983.cms
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