In April, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) placed a ban on cryptocurrency trade and use. This disallowed banks from working with crypto exchanges and other crypto businesses that went into effect July 6th, 2018. The idea is to make fiat conversion nearly impossible into crypto currency. However, it looks like the black market has responded. Since the ban has taken effect, people have found ways around the ban to grab some cryptos.
Localbitcoins.com has seen a big increase in usage in India since the ban has taken place. Decentralized exchange use also appears to be rising. There is also evidence that local, informal exchanging has increased, similar to how crypto was bought and sold during Bitcoin’s early days. It does not appear that the ban has had much of an effect on crypto usage in India...more of an inconvenience for the time being. In fact, many people are angry with the ban and feel that it is an unnecessary intrusion by the government.
Similar actions have occurred in the past with China and Korea...the government tried to ban cryptos and limit its use with its citizens, but the people have found ways around that ban as well. Of course the big banks state that they are acting to protect the customers from fraud and terrorist. In reality they are trying to save themselves from the serious competition that cryptos have against the banks. The big banks are losing control of their monopoly on the money supply. Less control means less power.
"Current events in India clearly reflect the fact that state attempts to regulate cryptocurrency out of existence are futile. Blockchain’s decentralized architecture is specifically designed to prevent such moves. It is this same quality that makes it such a revolutionary tool, and institutions such as the RBI would be far more successful if they worked with crypto development rather than against it." Nations that fight this trend stand to lose dearly in the long-run. Whether the big banks like it or not, cryptos are here to stay. It would behoove them to accept cryptos and work with blockchain technology because that would be acting in the best interest of the people. Thanks for stopping by and reading.
https://www.crypto-news.net/indian-crypto-usage-growing-despite-rbi-ban/