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Not sure what a 'ban' even means. Can't mine? Cant take in exchange? Because, how will anyone prevent trading online? Does government still not understand that,

Not sure what a 'ban' even means. Can't mine? Cant take in exchange? Because, how will anyone prevent trading online? Does government still not understand that, the Internet has no geographic location?

nonameiguess 6y ago
Making it illegal for businesses to transact in a cryptocurrency may be technologically impossible, but most transaction volume in a country is likely to be accounted for by large institutions and the government itself, which are going to follow the law even if technical controls forcing them to are impossible to implement. I mean, mostly. Obviously, plenty of large banks still launder money even though it's illegal. The practical end goal of any legal ban is to make the banned activity occur less than it would otherwise even if can't be stopped completely.
- imtringued 6y ago
  Yeah the point is that those who still engage in it are considered criminals and thus can be punished.
herodoturtle 6y ago
I stand to be corrected here (I'm sure crypto experts on HN can weigh in on this point with far better detail), but I think a "ban" in this context means that they won't allow conversion of Bitcoin to the local Indian currency and vice versa. So for example, whilst nothing can be done about Indian miners / holders of Bitcoin continuing to trade Bitcoin for other currencies in other jurisdictions (and by extension, nothing can be done to stop them from continuing to exchanging bitcoin for services and products online), Indian citizens won't be able to buy bitcoin using local Indian exchanges, nor will they be able to sell bitcoin using local Indian exchanges, nor will they be able to buy or sell products and services in India using Bitcoin.
- JoeAltmaier 6y ago
  ...unless they do. That's the thing about BitCoin. It never leaves the internet. You want to exchange them - do it. Indian currency exists outside India. Exchanging it for bitcoin is a digital transaction. On the internet. So I still don't see the ban as even meaningful words.

nonameiguess 6y ago

Making it illegal for businesses to transact in a cryptocurrency may be technologically impossible, but most transaction volume in a country is likely to be accounted for by large institutions and the government itself, which are going to follow the law even if technical controls forcing them to are impossible to implement. I mean, mostly. Obviously, plenty of large banks still launder money even though it's illegal. The practical end goal of any legal ban is to make the banned activity occur less than it would otherwise even if can't be stopped completely.

imtringued 6y ago
Yeah the point is that those who still engage in it are considered criminals and thus can be punished.

herodoturtle 6y ago

I stand to be corrected here (I'm sure crypto experts on HN can weigh in on this point with far better detail), but I think a "ban" in this context means that they won't allow conversion of Bitcoin to the local Indian currency and vice versa. So for example, whilst nothing can be done about Indian miners / holders of Bitcoin continuing to trade Bitcoin for other currencies in other jurisdictions (and by extension, nothing can be done to stop them from continuing to exchanging bitcoin for services and products online), Indian citizens won't be able to buy bitcoin using local Indian exchanges, nor will they be able to sell bitcoin using local Indian exchanges, nor will they be able to buy or sell products and services in India using Bitcoin.

JoeAltmaier 6y ago
...unless they do. That's the thing about BitCoin. It never leaves the internet. You want to exchange them - do it. Indian currency exists outside India. Exchanging it for bitcoin is a digital transaction. On the internet. So I still don't see the ban as even meaningful words.