One year after setting up a specific panel to study and investigate cryptocurrency, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) introduced a regulation on cryptocurrency in April to ban cooperation between financial institutions under its purview and business and cryptocurrency related businesses. Finally, the policy is enforced as it planned.
It took a stand on cryptocurrency for the first time, and the Supreme Court’s recent decision to keep the ban unchanged marked a dim day to cryptocurrency holders and developers. Therefore, although people still look to the authority for not so overly strict policy on the hearing on July 20th, it’s more likely that the future development of crypto market is going to head toward the downward trend in India.
However, if we look back the past 5 years since the first launch of Bitcoin in India, we may find that the government held an elusive attitude toward cryptos and there is strong correlation between the policy and the situation that the currency is in.
Then this article contributes to draft a timeline of the industries’ development related to policies.
It was in 2013 that Bitcoin first aroused a big heat in India ,with people from all social classes entered the market and made instant transactions or even speculate on it. However, 2013 was also the year for people to started to develop the technology and the industry. The authority at that time initially took a off-hand measure, then they released a post at the year-end of 2013, warning the use of cryptocurrency which may incur risks and danger, but no official regulatory policy was introduced.
Then the whole India crypto industry walked in the a three-year gold age, with crytocurrency exchanges and start-ups coming one after another; the coins and the technology introduced into more use cases in practical terms.
As India is country where a large number of people, nearly 21%, who don’t have accounts at any banks but still have needs to transfer money, for international remittance contributed a large part of national economies, the coins and the technology performed well to provide instant and low-cost services to the public.
The token even became an alternative to Rupee when the government announced to demonetize 80% of currency in circulation. Then the government in those year was nice to cryptos and the technology behind it. They invested project to further development the technology and gave support to the tokens, which actually made the public and the people in the know though that the government was going to legalize cryptos.
But things didn’t work out the way they wanted.
2017 was a turning point for the development of the industry: we started to hear about news reporting upcoming severe regulations on crypto market, and saw instant fluctuation in terms of token value and trading volume as the trend went negative. Actually, the rumors to introduce stricter regulation and the poor performance of the market, driving the price down significantly. According to some data.coms, the price of Bitcoin plunge from its highest level, nearly $1,0000 ,to a currently much lower price range of $6500-$6700.
Then the RBI finally outlawed crypto industry by introducing ban to stop activities between cryto-businesses and institutions under its supervision. It further sets an data for entities to leave the field and forced cryptocurrency exchange to stop providing services to the public.
The crytocurrency went back and forth over the years in India. In fact, it’s the ambiguity of the attitude of government toward the industry leads to the ups and downs in the crytocurrency. In the news, Tom Lee, the Fundstrat Global Advisors’s analyst, told that a lack of regulatory clarity imposed pressure on the market, and more professional investers from institution may enter the market with a clear policy. Not until 5 years after the first launch of the tokens, then the India authority came up with a clear policy.
As the Supreme Court vetoed the petition for cryptocurrency, then the ban released by RBI enforced on July 6th .There has already two exchanges to frozen their accounts and acquire users to get their money out; they closes channel to process fiat-to-cryto trade and launch cryto-only trade until the lift, if it is impose, the ban in the future.
Tomorrow is another day, then what cryptocurrency industry will be in the future?
