The state of cryptocurrencies in India remains in limbo as the country’s Supreme Court postpones reviewing a ‘crypto ban’ petition up to Sept. 11. That was a highly anticipated day for the local crypto community, since they expected that the hearing could potentially result in reversing the infamous crypto ban issued by RBI (the central bank).
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Supreme Court fights
According to the report provided by India’s leading news outlet Inc42, the postponement is caused by the fact that the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), along with others authorities, failed to provide their responses to the petition. The Supreme Court clarifies that it needs SEBI’s response because the purpose of the petition is to design a regulatory framework. The Supreme Court opted to wait until all pleadings are completed.
As mentioned above, final arguments are expected to be presented on Sept. 11.
India’s top court has recently decided to uphold the ban, but crypto enthusiasts are still hopeful that Narendra Modi’s government will manage to come up with common-sense regulations.
Broken relationships with crypto
India has never been consistent in its attitude towards crypto. In December 2013, after the industry had already started gaining momentum, India's central bank issued a disparaging statement slamming cryptocurrencies as fraudulent, unsafe and volatile. Such statements continued up to December 2017 when Bitcoin reached its current all-time high (more than $20,000).
Then a true crackdown started: from raiding cryptocurrency offices in Mumbai, Delhi and other major cities to outright banning all Indian exchanges. As of now, Indian crypto enthusiasts are only able to buy crypto with the help of the P2P network. Indian residents who want to buy fiat money with crypto have no other choice but turn to a black market.
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Dan Burgin
