Cryptocurrency has had a good run, but it might be the last we see of it here in India.
In his budget address today, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the government will do everything in its power to clamp down on the use of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in India.
He asserted that the country doesn¡¯t see it as legal tender and will instead push for blockchain technology to be used in existing payment systems.
This unsurprising declaration has been a long time coming over the past few months. The recent high number of Bitcoin transactions in the country has had both investors and the RBI worried. The finance ministry has in the past called cryptocurrency a Ponzi scheme, and the RBI has cautioned Indians to not engage in the trading frenzy as it lacks legitimacy and is unsafe for investors.?
¡°There is a real and heightened risk of investment bubble of the type seen in Ponzi schemes which can result in sudden and prolonged crash exposing investors, especially retail consumers losing their hard-earned money,¡± the finance ministry had said.?
To be fair, we¡¯re not the only country in the world that¡¯s shied away from cryptocurrency. 2017 may have been the year crypto was riding the bull, but that bull could now be slaughtered in its tracks. China was making plans to crack down harder on virtual coins back in January, and Bitcoin has long-since been banned in the likes of Russia, Taiwan, and Bolivia.
Of course, local cryptocurrency exchanges will continue to remain hopeful, at least until some sort of official crackdown or plan is put into place by the government.?