India & Crypto-Legalities
A roundtable discussion on the legal status of cryptos in India
Why we need this discussion
We had just got our win from the RBI in the #CryptoVsRBI’s case in the Honourable Supreme Court and the entire industry was gung-ho over this newfound freedom. However, there are still many ifs and buts in this entire case that needs to be understood in a better light.
Moreover, the COVID19 situation also calls for some thought-provoking action by the country’s crypto businesses, influencers, and leaders. The questions that come to our mind are:
- What have been the good things that happened after the RBI case was won
- What problems do you foresee hence, due to this opening for crypto for the businesses or for the community?
- What is needed to be prepared for the future?
- This is also the taxation period, what is this new status of CryptoVsRBI going to entail?
- How should people prepare to get the right legal standards for their company?
- What could the Legal and Policy thought leaders do to bring about a change in industry mindset?
Roundtable #4 had a special mission. To get the Legal apparatus of the country kick-in some standards for the industry which gels well with the authorities.
Also Read: Presenting — “Chainbusters”
The Roundtable Knights
We brought together a group of people who are an authority on policies, law, and legalities related to blockchain, crypto, company laws, and government policies of the globe. These were a bunch of lawyers, chartered accountants, policy evangelists, exponents, and practicing lawyers who were involved in the RBI Vs Crypto case in India. These thought leaders led to an amazing brainstorming of some of the problems that Indian businesses and individuals faced and might face in the future — despite the Supreme Court ruling. A big shoutout to the following for making it a fruitful discussion.
- Shikha Mehra, Co-Founder, Mainchain Research & Consulting
- Anirudh Rastogi, Founder, Ikigai Law
- Anoush Bhasin, Founder, Quagmire Consulting
- Aanchal Thakur, Managing Partner, DayOrg Consulting Group
- Varun Sethi, Founder, Blockchain Lawyer
- Mohammed Danish, Co-Founder, Crypto Kanoon
- Tanvi Ratna, Founder-CEO, Policy 4.0
Salient points of the Roundtable discussion
Here are a few salient points discussed in this 4th Roundtable:
Challenges
- RBI can still petition the SC against banking access provided to the crypto businesses.
- Only the petitioner cryptocurrency exchanges got a respite from frozen bank accounts.
- Individual consumers with frozen bank accounts will have to petition separately.
- There is still no provision for consumer protection.
- The onus of understanding the risk of investing in crypto lies with the consumer
Regulations
- The classification of crypto is still unclear — is it an asset, commodity, or currency — there is still no clarity.
- We need bureaucrats who want to and can understand this technology and not simply draft a banning bill.
- The path to regulatory clarity is going to be very long.
Solutions
- The overall narrative needs to change from this being crypto vs fiat fight.
- The dialogue has to more about creating our own space played alongside the Fiat world.
- We need new laws that keep consumer protection at its base priority.
- Consumer education and protection should also be made a priority
- The legislations of Wyoming and Liechtenstein could be used as a baseline.
- India is a different country with specific needs. Hence it needs unique thoughts regarding regulations.
Roundtable #1 Details
We conducted this #Roundtable #Discussion: 9th April 2020, Thursday on our Airmeet community meetup page, between 4:30 PM to 5:30 PM. We received an overwhelming response and had 100+ registrations and attendance at this event from all over the country as well as from overseas.
Stay Connected
Watch our videos on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcgK-DYlNlQXUqp0rHp084Q
Follow inblox.events
Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Reddit | Instagram | Medium
Our Community page on Airmeet: bit.ly/InbloxEvents
