Supreme Court Scolds RBI over Cryptocurrency/Bitcoin Trading Ban

Indian apex court, the Supreme Court of India, slammed the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) over cryptocurrency ban in the country. The judges at the court asked that why it chose to ban bitcoin trading when it could regulate it. The judges compared the cryptocurrency trading market to that of stock-trading, wondering if one could be governed despite the inherent investment risks, then what stopped the central bank from not regulating the other.

Hearing ends here.

Arguments will resume tomorrow by RBI and the same will be followed by Rejoinder by the Petitioners.

Thank you! pic.twitter.com/1GhQSu2Neu

— Crypto Kanoon (@cryptokanoon) August 20, 2019

Crypto Kanoon, an India-based bitcoin advocacy group, reported live accounts on the Crypto vs. RBI case via its Twitter profile. The updates revealed that Ashim Sood, the counsel representing the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), presented bitcoin as a nascent industry which needed oversight.

The advocate discussed how other countries are developing new legal frameworks to make space for assets like bitcoin. But instead of taking cues from developed nations like Singapore and the US, RBI took an unpleasant stance and banned bitcoin trading altogether.

Advocate Shyam Diwan, the counsel representing the RBI, called bitcoin a private cryptocurrency which could have a direct impact on India’s monetary and payment systems. He argued that RBI had issued notices to discourage people from investing in these assets. But when they did not stop, the central bank had to take extreme measures such as banning the banking access to exchanges altogether.

“Crypto has some monetary characteristics, and people’s consensus drives its value,” said Diwan, as cited by Crypto Kanoon. “If more and more people continue to adopt them as a means of payment, then it might compromise our monetary system badly. It also has the ability to [conduct] cross border transactions. That is where the problem lies.”

The Supreme Court will now continue to hear the case tomorrow.

Read the Order of the Court for today.#CryptoKanoonExpress pic.twitter.com/ZC25Xn33D7

— Crypto Kanoon (@cryptokanoon) August 20, 2019

Source - Davit Babayan - NewsBTC