The news about the ban on cryptocurrency in India is fake

The world media is actively discussing the ban on Bitcoin by the Indian authorities, but, in fact, India has not introduced any ban.

Arun Jaitley, the Minister of Finance of India, announced the country's budget for 2018-2019, which raised the issue of the use of cryptocurrency on its territory.

As a result of the document presented by Jaitley, it became clear that:

·         Bitcoin is not recognized as legal tender;

·         The Indian government will begin the fight against the use of crypto-assets outside the law;

·         The public will be dissuaded from using digital currency as a payment instrument;

At the same time, the minister did not announce a ban on cryptocurrency and did not announce a refusal to exchange crypto assets. Moreover, Indian fiscal authorities are tracking down habitual tax evaders on income from crypto exchanges. 

However, Jaitley's speech caused a stream of erroneous judgments and the whole world decided that India had officially banned cryptocurrency.

The media trumpeted to the whole world about a complete ban on Bitcoin in India and everything connected with it. Skeptics desperately shouted that “when India announces a ban on Bitcoin, the price of it will plummet.”

It has now become clear that the prime minister was only talking about measures to curb the misuse of cryptocurrency for illegal purposes, as well as ways to pay for goods and services with cryptocurrency.

Referring to the “government committee”, no one bothered to check that this is the “Virtual Currency Committee”, which was created by the Ministry of Finance in 2017. And it is he who will develop the regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies in India.

Leading experts of the Indian cryptocurrency market have expressed support for the authorities’ policy of taking measures against the illegal use of cryptocurrency.

In a message from the leading Indian cryptocurrency exchange Zebpay that there is essentially no ban, you can read the commentary of Arun Jaitley himself. It states that the government strongly welcomes the development of cryptocurrency and considers it as a new stage in clarifying the current situation in the cryptocurrency market and improving work with consumers.

It is worth noting that the Indian press has already interpreted the government’s words about cryptocurrency incorrectly. A similar situation happened in March last year.. Then the leading Indian media also wrote about the authorities banning cryptocurrency, misinterpreting the words of the Indian government.