India is one of those countries that have taken a tough stance towards the crypto industry.
The crackdown over the last 12 months has been intense and the current regulatory atmosphere in the country is incredibly difficult for crypto operators. Sidharth Sogani, the CEO of crypto and blockchain research firm Crebaco Global, Inc says the loss of cryptocurrency business will cost the Indian economy around $13 billion.
Whichever way you want to look at the crypto market, $13 billion is a lot of money to lose out on.
The estimated losses are based on the fact that if the crypto industry was legal in India, domestic operators would have generated a $13 billion dollar industry. This includes domestic companies that were forced to relocate overseas after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) put in place heavy restrictions on how Indian banks and cryptocurrency firms could interact.
Sogani provided a rough breakdown on how these billions of dollars have been lost. He says that at that $4.9 billion would have been from cryptocurrency whitepapers and crypto business plans. An additional $4.5 billion would have been from jobs created by the industry, $2.1 billion was lost because of the loss of expert blockchain coders and the remaining $1.27 billion would have been generated by people using cryptocurrency content creators.
Crypto Down But Blockchain Up
The interesting thing about the India market is that while cryptocurrency is taking a hammering, blockchain technologies are being promoted. The Indian government has been very supportive of distributed ledger technologies. A committee has actually been setup to determine a legal framework for blockchain adoption. Even the RBI is being supportive of blockchain technologies so much so that it is currently developing a blockchain-based banking platform.
Despite the push behind blockchain, cryptocurrencies are facing a tough time in India. Recently, a bill was introduced that looked to impose a 10-year jail sentence on crypto users. Fortunately, that bill was fought off but the latest anti-crypto bill is just as troubling.
Called “Banning of Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2019”, this bill was publicly released on July 22. The main idea behind the bill is as per the title: a complete ban on the use of cryptocurrencies in the country. The bill has a decent chance of being passed and this has many people up in arms.
Even before the bill has been made legal, the bill’s effects are being felt. Several Indian cryptocurrency exchanges have already shut down because of weaker demand. The law might also affect whether Facebook’s Libra will rolled out in the country.
