Bitcoin Crash Incoming? India Cracks Down!

[WYP]

Bitcoin may soon see another drop as India cracks down on the cryptocurrency.

Please note that any drop in the value of bitcoin relating to this will not be as severe as that related to China's action against bitcoin, given that India is nowhere near as big of a player as china was.

Today the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued a warning that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies could be breaking several laws related to money laundering and financing terrorism.

In response many key bitcoin exchanges in India have closed their services for an unspecified amount of time.

Right now, Mahim Gupta, the owner of one of Buyselbitco.in, a mayor bitcoin exchange, is under investigation, with police runing around the clock trying to link him with money laundering and arrest him on those charges.

The statement from the RBI has came not much longer than a week after the Chinese government had banned the depositing of currency into bitcoin exchanges, which promptly halved the price of the currency.

With one of the advantages of Bitcoin being its very limited trace-ability, do you guys think it has a future as a currency if further money laundering or terrorism charges come to light? Is it time to move to DOGECOINs? Please post your thoughts.

Source - nextpowerup - Economic Times

 

[NeverBackDown]

It would not have been as big of a problem IMO if they sort of asked countries to allow cryptocurrency into their national currency it would have been less a problem... due to just about every country saying no.

I am no economists though so really just speculation.

 

[SieB]

I'm so tempted to jump on the train, except it's more of a rollercoaster than a train with many ups and downs. The way things are going it seems like it will end up costing me more than I would make.

 

[WYP]

one of the main problems with bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is the lack of regulation around them.

This allows them to be used more discretely and allows for money laundering or the dreaded possibility of it use funding terrorism.

Each government will have to look into how they will act towards bitcoin, China has said a firm NO to bitcoin and India has temporarily stopped its use as they "outline a clearer framework with which to work.", it's anyone's guess how everyone else will move or react.

 

[grassman]

one of the main problems with bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is the lack of regulation around them.

This allows them to be used more discretely and allows for money laundering or the dreaded possibility of it use funding terrorism.

Each government will have to look into how they will act towards bitcoin, China has said a firm NO to bitcoin and India has temporarily stopped its use as they "outline a clearer framework with which to work.", it's anyone's guess how everyone else will move or react.

No that's whats good about cryptocurrencies and whats wrong with our paper money.

 

[Master&Puppet]

And last month (Nov '13) the US senate held hearings to determine the future of cryptocurrencies in light of the soaring value of bitcoin with a view to encourage the safe use of them in legitimate and safe transactions. There's a lot to be decided yet but they are here to stay - at least in the western world.

I can't see India banning this having any impact upon the value of Bitcoin. India is, frankly, not important in the cryptocurrency world and actually over the past week or so the value of bitcoins has actually increased from around £400 to £456 per bitcoin (at the time of writing) which is no real surprise since the value of bitcoin has always increased when speculation about regulating it circulates (people trust it more even though nothing has changed).

Bitcoin has had a bad history (NB. The Silk Road) but new technologies are always exploited before they are regulated and that doesn't mean that the idea isn't here to stay or that it can only be harnessed by those with criminal intentions. There are dozens of other cryptocurrencies out there which are making waves in different ways an have not had the unfortunate luck that Bitcoin suffered being the first of it's kind.

 

[d3rrial]

I doubt this will have a major impact on Bitcoin.

An important thing to me that I would like to point out, is that the value of Bitcoin is not the exchange rate of a bitcoin.

The exchange rate could be at 0.01 usd per btc and Bitcoin would still have an immense value. The value of Bitcoin is the service provided, so sending near instantanous, cheap transactions from every part of the world with internet access, to every part of the world with internet access.

In response to funding terrorists: Its a good thing then, that all bitcoin transactions are public and can easily be traced.

 

[Remmy]

Its a good thing then, that all bitcoin transactions are public and can easily be traced.

I just wrote a reply to this disagreeing with what you said, then I was like wait a second, he's just being sarcastic isn't he? Man, that was stupid

 

[d3rrial]

I just wrote a reply to this disagreeing with what you said, then I was like wait a second, he's just being sarcastic isn't he? Man, that was stupid

Well, its half true. Its true that all Bitcoin transactions are entirely public and visible to everyone. The part thats not exactly true is that these transactions are irreversably linked to people. So to figure out who the true owner of a bitcoin wallet is, one needs to retrace the steps the bitcoin has taken and then from there has to trace the steps forward again. This is made easier by most exchanges adhering to anti-money laundering laws, requiring every person using that exchange to register with their full identity and prove who they are.

Then you also have to consider, what are terrorists going to do with bitcoin? Are they domestic terrorists or are they some far away militant group like Al Qaeda? If they are domestic, they will run into problems exchanging their bitcoins for terrorist equipment at one point or another, if they are a group of terrorists somewhere in pakistan / india / afghanistan, its unlikely that the bitcoin has any purchasing power to buy weapons and equipment, except if they are exchanged before that. I am unaware of any bitcoin exchanges in pakistan / afghanistan and the ones in india have just halted trading.

Terrorist can just as easily be funded by USD or EUR or Diamonds / Gold for example, that is just as hard to link to these groups, but yields in a better liquidity for them.

 

[WYP]

It will not have much affect, but governments trying to regulate bitcoins and future criminal charges may do so. India isn't really big into bitcoin.

My headline was sarcastic, but sadly, as the post two above this clearly shows , it isn't always read that way.

 

[d3rrial]

...

I just think its an interesting argument to have, potential ways to abuse technology.

Sorry for hijacking your thread with that

And I think I just replied to a reply not pointed at me.

Sorry.

 

[Remmy]

Well, its half true. Its true that all Bitcoin transactions are entirely public and visible to everyone. The part thats not exactly true is that these transactions are irreversably linked to people. So to figure out who the true owner of a bitcoin wallet is, one needs to retrace the steps the bitcoin has taken and then from there has to trace the steps forward again. This is made easier by most exchanges adhering to anti-money laundering laws, requiring every person using that exchange to register with their full identity and prove who they are.

Oh I see I'm sure you can tell I have no Bitcoin knowledge whatsoever lol

 

[d3rrial]

Oh I see I'm sure you can tell I have no Bitcoin knowledge whatsoever lol

I still love to see, that you are not biased towards Bitcoin being evil and of the devil...

I recently started to campaign for Bitcoin payment processors like Coinbase to become an accepted payment method on Cloud Imperium Games (the guys behind Star Citizen) and I was just met with so much hate and ignorance, it was unbelievable

 

[WYP]

...

I just think its an interesting argument to have, potential ways to abuse technology.

Sorry for hijacking your thread with that

And I think I just replied to a reply not pointed at me.

Sorry.

What are you apologising over? I think you have contributed well to this thread.

Your comments have left readers better informed on the subject matter.