The cryptocurrency field in India has been riddled with uncertainty for quite some time now. However, as the country’s Supreme Court began final hearings yesterday, we might see the end of it sooner rather than later.
Final Hearings
Yesterday, September 11, the Supreme Court of India began the final hearings for the case held between the country’s Reserve Bank (RBI), and cryptocurrency exchanges. The case involves the decision of the bank to cease any relationships of banks with digital currency exchange and traders.
The ban went in effect on July 6 and it had a devastating effect on the industry, purportedly reducing the number of traders from 200,000 to 20,000 quickly after.
It’s also worth noting, though, that the ban paved the way for creativity as companies and traders started taking advantage of peer-to-peer (P2P) trading and crypto-only models.
The final verdict was to be rendered back on July 20th but at the time the court postponed it for September 11th.
The Bank on One Side…
RBI’s main motives for outlawing cryptocurrencies is that they pose serious risks for investors. Furthermore, digital currency transactions are anonymous which, supposedly, creates serious taxation liabilities and paves the way for money laundering and terrorism financing, despite the fact that international reports point towards the exact opposite.
As LiveBitcoinNews reported recently, it turns out that cash is far more appropriate for illicit activities and is preferred to cryptocurrencies.
Arguments are made that digital currencies don’t have any intrinsic value. Given the fact that some of the world’s most prominent fiat currencies such as the US dollar also entirely “backed” by the state of the US economy and have no underlying asset, the motives of the bank appear to be questionable, to say the least.
… and Cryptocurrency Exchanges on the Other
Cryptocurrency exchanges argue that they’ve been entirely compliant to the know-your-customer (KYC), and anti-money laundering (AML) regulations and that the bank’s decision is in direct violation of the acting constitution.
Furthermore, the venues have also reportedly consented to work with the RBI to include more information as well as precautionary measures to protect investors.
The industry also argues that cryptocurrencies do have intrinsic value and that it is only bound to increase as the market continues to grow.
What do you think the Supreme Court’s decision will be? Don’t hesitate to let us know in the comments below!
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