AM Crypto: National: Thursday, July 26, 2018.
In the month
of May, a Bitcoin Enthusiast and a Lawyer, Yusuf Rampurwa filed for a Right to
Information [RTI] form against Reserve Bank of India [RBI]. The RTI was filed
seeking for information regarding the representatives responsible for
submitting the report on virtual currencies, report submitted by them
[representatives] to the RBI or the government and details of any
representation [or reference] made which helped in the formation of the
inter-disciplinary committee.
The response
from the Government of India, Ministry of Finance, Department of Economic
Affairs states that the inter-disciplinary committee was chaired by the Special
Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs and had the representatives from the
Department of Economic Affairs, Department of Financial Servies, Department of
Revenue [CBDT], the Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Electronics and
Information Technology, RBI, State Bank of India [SBI] and NITI Aayog.
Moreover,
the information provided by the Department of Economic Affairs stated:
“The Report
of the Committee contains policy issues of strategic importance and relevant
policy is currently under formulation stage.”
The records
regarding the information referred to for creating the policy is available in
the records. The disciplinary committee consulted the National Institution of
Public Finance and Policy and Vidhi, Centre of Legal Policy.
The Reserve
Bank of India [RBI] sent across a circulation in the month of April. The
circulation stated that all the banks in association with the Central Bank
would cease providing services to individuals and business dealing with virtual
currencies including Bitcoin. The RBI stated that the reason behind this was
because virtual currencies possess a lot of risks. The bank had given all the
companies a duration of 3 months to cease their practices associated with
virtual currencies.
The
circulation led to a huge uproar in the Indian crypto currency community with
the majority claiming that the rule was set across without the bank doing a
proper research on the crypto currency market. This led to many companies
taking the bank to the Supreme Court and a lot of people applying for an RTI.
The Internet
and Mobile Association of India [IAMAI] Supreme Court hearing was held on 3rd
July 2018. The Supreme Court denied the temporary stay on the ban of crypto currencies
and the judgment had no positive outcome for the Indian crypto currency
community. Moreover, the next decision which was held on 20th July 2018
regarding the ban also led to the stay on the crypto currency ban.
Jason A.
Williams, a Twitterati said:
“This
decision puts India at a tremendous strategic disadvantage regarding innovation
around the block chain. India trashed Rupee notes to expose corruption. They
banned crypto to control the people.”
The second
adverse response from the Supreme Court was an unexpected judgment for the
community. The judgment even led many well-known people in the crypto currency
space to speak up against the act. Even John McAfee, the Founder of McAfee
Antivirus called out for a boycott for all the banks working alongside the
Reserve Bank of India.
Nonetheless,
the Supreme Court has not made the final decision regarding the country’s
stance on crypto currencies. The final hearing of the case is going to be held
on 11th September 2018 but until then, crypto currencies will be banned in
India.
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