India’s Supreme Court Overturns Central Bank Ban on Crypto Trading

Here’s something interesting. TechCrunch reports that the Supreme Court of India has overturned the Reserve Bank of India’s ban on cryptocurrency trading.

The central bank had banned cryptocurrency trading in April 2018, prohibiting financial institutions from providing “any service in relation to virtual currencies.”

At the time, RBI said the move was necessary to curb “ring-fencing” of the country’s financial system. It had also argued that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies cannot be treated as currencies as they are not made of metal or exist in physical form, nor were they stamped by the government.

The central bank’s decision sideswiped several crypto-related startups in the region, leading most of them to shut down.

In what is seen as a “historic” decision, the nation’s supreme court had lifted the ban, ruling that the RBI’s move was disproportional.

Naturally, the ruling has made India’s remaining crypto scene quite excited. Nischal Shetty, founder and CEO of Bitcoin exchange platform WazirX, said that it was a “historic day for Crypto in India. We can now innovate. The entire country can participate in the Blockchain revolution.”

Photo: Legaleagle86