It’s not appropriate to assume that we know all the technological developments occurring in the future but by putting the facts in the right space of a thought process, we can say the probability of circumstantial developments. We’ll be examining the future of the Bitcoin in India and certainly, the few expressions that comes into the mind are not on the positive side. The hatred, some of the media houses and the government officials have spread in the last couple of years is indescribable, even knowing without what the Bitcoin is. The lawmakers seem positive when it comes to Bitcoin’s underlying technology “Blockchain” which is also got introduced when Bitcoin came into the picture for the first time. On this note too, they’re considering private blockchains over the public blockchain.

Let’s clear all the doubts around Bitcoin

Bitcoin, born around 10 years back is the first child of Crypto Assets and the first application that was an implementation of Blockchain Technology. Every individual has its explanations of Bitcoin. The uncomplicated explanation of the Bitcoin is it’s the Decentralized Digital Money that has no boundaries and can be transacted globally without any necessity of the central bank. It was revealed by an anonymous man, woman or the community named Satoshi Nakamoto.

All the transactions made through Bitcoin are stored on the Blockchain which is distributed to all the connected computers around the globe. Obviously, with this definition, someone can not make a space in the good books of the lawmakers. So, they criticize the currency by saying it can be used for illegal transactions, money laundering can be possible, purchasing drugs. With all the speculations and banned by some nations, Bitcoin is still there, a big healthy guy, breathing fresh air, and brother of around 2,000 more Crypto Assets.

When did Bitcoin come into existence for the Indians?

Demonetisation, the day that holds a bad reputation for the current government. This very day, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) scrapped all the 500 and 1000 Rupee notes from the circulation. The in-power people came up with an idea to kill all the never-ending illicit activities. We will not get into the debate whether it was the right decision or not but it undoubtedly dented the 1.3 billion people’s trust in the national currency as the stock market fell to 7 percent. Many deaths occurred and people queued up for the money which was theirs as promised on the signed note. 

(I promise to pay the bearer the sum of 500 rupees. Signed by the RBI Governor.)

With this move, many Millenials, the popular word these days shifted themselves to the Bitcoin. The crypto exchanges were in full rush as the people started buying the Bitcoins and the number of investors grew to the point where 2,500 Indians were investing in Bitcoin on a daily basis, sources from The Economic Times.

Understanding the Indian Government route towards Bitcoin

We have previously observed the Government officials giving warnings to not use the Virtual Currencies. The government has formed an inter-disciplinary committee to examine the framework on virtual currencies and set up a forum on MyGov for public opinion. The department of Economic Affairs is also discussing the case of how they can regulate Bitcoin. The suggestions were not that quick but it’s a sigh of relief that it came.

The committee said:

“cryptocurrencies should be governed by the Reserve Bank of India Act of 1934; Bitcoin investors should be taxed; guidelines around the crypto-assets should be drafted; the IRB should extend FEMA to cross-border cryptocurrency deals”

Although, all the said things still need to be implemented. Some states started the implementation of the Blockchain technology in some formats like storing of the Land Registries on the Blockchain. Adopting the technology is a well-made choice for the government but they need to understand how relevant are the Crypto coins in this implementation.

The Andhra Pradesh government has also inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the leading technology-based companies to get into the Blockchain ecosystem and planning to move all the property titles and vehicle ownership data onto the blockchain to make the data accessible and secure. The reports are saying that they have successfully stored around 100,000 land records on the Blockchain. More than fifteen insurance companies, finance companies are also tying up with the Blockchain-based companies for the solutions. The large corporations have also tied up with several Blockchain Education companies to train their employees. But in this blockchain rush, we shouldn’t miss the fact that Blockchain is in existence because of the Bitcoin. We need to realize how important the Crypto token when it comes to the Blockchain technology.

Future

Many analysts prophesied that India’s government will regulate the Bitcoin but in some stages. Having said that, we have yet to know how many stages are there. It is understood that regulating the Bitcoin is not in favor of the Governments in any manner but ignoring may harm more than accepting. At last, the idea of government stands on who controls the money and the cryptocurrency disorders the idea.

The RBI has recently discontinued all the banking services connected to the Cryptocurrency exchanges. Many of the exchanges have shifted their operations outside India while some big guns had to shut their businesses.

Although, India’s Bitcoin Industry welcomes the point that government backing is essential when it comes to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. The private exchanges, who were trading Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have candidly said that:

“without verification of the customer that includes Bank Details, Aadhaar ID, Permanent Account Number, purchasing can not be done.”

They’ve also accumulated an association named Digital Asset and the Blockchain Foundation of India (DABFI) to educate the citizens of the country around the Cryptocurrencies and the Blockchain technology.

We are not in the state to comment that the Bitcoin will give you immense profits on investment or you’ll be buying luxury cars if you invest in the Bitcoin now. But if we go by the facts, Bitcoin’s block reward halving is coming, Lightning Network is getting into great shape to boost the Bitcoin transactions, adoption/regulations in the favor of the Bitcoin by several large corporations. The significant innovations are going to attract so many people and the governments are in very bad aspects to consider this global transformation. Bitcoin adoption by masses is imminent but it would be great if this happens with the back of the government and pro regulations from the nations.

The hope is there that the government’s displeasure towards the Bitcoin or other crypto assets will shift and they’ll make some accommodation for this digital innovation. We have lost the race when the Software boom happened and delaying the policy framework around this tech will hurt us too. Some exchanges refused to give up and moved to the Supreme Court to regulate the Cryptocurrencies. The challenge has not a winner to date. The history is there to support the fact that the court’s structure is designed to give the only next dates and hearings.

The countries like the UK, Estonia and many others stand in the favor to understand this new financial understanding and our lawmakers are happy snoring in the comfort zone. The regulation will surely help us to pave the new path in the world economy as the country is in a big economic slowdown. This is a universal truth that finance and technology go hand-in-hand. But the dimensions are yet to be explored. Ignoring the Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies and embracing the technology will not work in favor of this transformation.

Let’s wait, watch and expect that the next announcement will arrive in support of this innovation.

Gopal Bansal