India’s finance minister Arun Jaitley noted in his Parliament speech today, Feb.1 that cryptocurrency is not legal tender in the country and promised a crackdown on “illegitimate activities” involving crypto.
Based on this, a flood of misinterpreted comments warning of an outright ban appeared across the mainstream press and social media.
Markets fell in trading on Thursday, Bitcoin dipping below $9,400 after breaking $10,300 Wednesday, Jan. 31, data from Bitstamp shows.
During his budget speech today, Jaitley stated: “The government does not recognise cryptocurrency as legal tender or coin and will take all measures to eliminate the use of these cryptoassets in financing illegitimate activities or as part of the payments system.”