The Indian government said that they consider bitcoin an illegal tender and will take measures to eliminate related transactions. This was announced to the nation’s lawmakers by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in New Delhi on Thursday, February 1.
The government does not consider cryptocurrencies legal tender or coin and will take all measures to eliminate use of these crypto-assets in financing illegitimate activities or as part of the payment system. The government will explore use of blockchain technology proactively for ushering in digital economy.
The debate over virtual currency has become increasingly omnipresent worldwide since the future contracts of the American regulated exchanges last December. The inception of 2018 saw intensifying losses for investors.
In January 2018, Bitcoin lost $44.2 billion of market value from the $200 billion generated in the entirety of 2017. This is significant for the brief history of digital assets in terms of being the biggest one-month loss.
After today’s announcement, people are getting scared. We have seen some dumping of bitcoins. – Anshul Vashist, Delhi-based support manager of Coinsecure, a cryptocurrency exchange
According to him, Coinsecure’s asset of the digital currency counts to 100 coins per day.
The Reserve Bank of India did caution the users regarding potential risks. Then, Indian income tax officials initiated investigations on transactions at multiple illegal bitcoin exchanges during December. On December 12, the federal government stepped up to form a decisive panel on the nation’s approach on cryptocurrency, as said by people related to the case.
