Interview With India's Three Largest Crypto-Exchanges: Ban Rumors Are False

Earlier this week, many reports mistakenly suggested that the Indian government has banned crypto trading and the entire crypto exchange market. Cointelegraph spoke to India's three largest cryptocurrency exchanges, which unanimously stated that cryptocurrency ban rumors are no more than so-called "FUD".

In an exclusive interview, unanimously stated that Coinsecure, Unocoin and Zebpay executives, the most widely used crypto exchange trading platforms in the country with millions of users unanimously stated that the document released by the Ministry of Finance was mistakenly interpreted.

The Indian Ministry of Finance confirmed that it intends to ban the use of crypto curves in economic crimes and illegal activities, but do not prohibit cryptographic curves in general. It is important to acknowledge that the use of cash or any currency in financial crimes is prohibited. The general media, especially outlets in India, interpret the declaration as a ban on crypto courses and release for early reports claiming that the government has banned the market. This week, on national television, India's finance minister rejected strongly cryptocurrency ban rumors.

Interview With India's Three Largest Crypto-Exchanges: Ban Rumors Are False

Sunny Ray, the founder and president of Unocoin, told Cointelegraph:

“We are happy that the Finance Minister has recognized the importance and popularity of cryptocurrency, and has chosen to talk about it on budget day. As far as the exact content of what he said, we are largely neutral about it. However, we are pained to see his words being misinterpreted and misreported, by a section of the media.”

Ray emphasized that the statement of India’s Finance Minister Arun Jaitley was misinterpreted by the media which reported it as a ban on cryptocurrencies when Jaitley simply noted that the use of cryptocurrencies in illegal activities will be prohibited and restricted. Also, Jaitley stated that Bitcoin is not a legal tender. But Bitcoin is not a legal tender in anywhere in the world. Legal tender implies that it is illegal not to accept a certain asset. It is certainly not illegal to not accept Bitcoin in Japan, the US, South Korea, and everywhere else globally.

Ray added:

“During question hour in Rajya Sabha on Jan. 2, 2018, the Finance Minister had made the exact same point, where he stated that, ‘Bitcoins or such cryptocurrencies are not legal tender.’ This has been the position taken by almost all governments around the world, and we regard this statement quite neutrally. It is our understanding that only currency notes and coins are legal tender. To extrapolate that to mean that such assets are ‘illegal’ is silly at best, and grossly irresponsible at worst.”

Coinsecure CEO Mohit Kalra also reassured investors within the local cryptocurrency market that the government is not banning cryptocurrencies and it exchanges will operate as usual. Kaira advised customers not to be affected by the FUD and false reports issued over the past week.

“According to Mr. Jaitley, they will be stopping illicit activities happening using Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. For us, it’s business as usual. Would advise customers not to panic sell at lower rates,” Kaira told Cointelegraph.

Coinsecure COO Jincy Samuel emphasized that the cryptocurrency ban reports are nothing more than FUD, adding:

“This is in no way different from the various other statements given in the recent past. Nothing new has been determined. Just seems like a lot of unnecessary media FUD.”
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