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Did you read the article? "In India, despite government threats of a ban, transaction volumes are swelling and 8 million investors now hold 100 billion rupees

Did you read the article? "In India, despite government threats of a ban, transaction volumes are swelling and 8 million investors now hold 100 billion rupees ($1.4 billion) in crypto-investments, according to industry estimates." All they will end up doing is push crypto into the dark markets. They simply do not have the capacity (or are sophisticated enough) to go after the crypto holders.

ketamine__ 6y ago
Without a fiat off ramp trading crypto becomes less attractive as a speculative investment.
coliveira 6y ago
People have always been able to trade illicit products. The biggest example is drug trafficking. Would you like to become a drug trafficker? Similarly, you may be able to buy cryptocurrency, but if the government doesn't want it you'll be a law breaker.
- fredfoobar 6y ago
  I will not, but some one will and they'll sell it for a premium [1]. 1: https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/bitcoin-is-trading-at-a-46-premium-on-luno-nigeria-after-central-bank-ban-2021-02-26 https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/bitcoin-is-trading-at-a-46-p...
- rawtxapp 6y ago
  One key difference is drugs are physical products, you can be "caught" with it, whereas cryptocurrency is completely virtual. Unless you're caught at exchange time, you could be walking around with millions of dollars worth of crypto around and no one would know.
  - thethimble 6y ago
    You could use the same argument for digital piracy. There’s countless examples of people who have been caught and penalized for piracy.
  - ikerdanzel 6y ago
    PC you use to transact is physical too. Your Internet can also be traced. In China, accessing wiki gets you prison time even though the users use VPN. Graphics cards for mining can be taxed very high. Kiddy porn is a better example here instead of drugs. You could be walking around with trillions usd in the form of diamonds. And yet if you're in a desert you are likely not able to use it and die of thirst. In everyday live you need liquidity. Governments ensure liquidity legally. Crypto can't. At best it is like rare baseball cards collections that you need to specifically find buyers that willing to pay for it through specialized locations (which governments can control). Pro cypto arguments are out of touch with realities. They basically banging on government will accept it. It is basically like hoping Myanmar will back off after seeing protestor. In general direct firing to kill should be expected and proven to work. Expecting government to give the ability to print money is very naive.
    - swiley 6y ago
      You could always run your transactions from a VPS in another country. Sure that won't work in China but India hasn't quite reached that level of totalitarianism.
- swiley 6y ago
  Yeah and the bottom really dropped out on the drug market when the US criminalized it... oh wait, no the opposite happened.
  - 411111111111111 6y ago
    That can't be compared. Drugs are addictive, which makes the decision to stop hard. Legislation has been shown to work in nations which outlawed weapons for example.

ketamine__ 6y ago

Without a fiat off ramp trading crypto becomes less attractive as a speculative investment.

coliveira 6y ago

People have always been able to trade illicit products. The biggest example is drug trafficking. Would you like to become a drug trafficker? Similarly, you may be able to buy cryptocurrency, but if the government doesn't want it you'll be a law breaker.

fredfoobar 6y ago
I will not, but some one will and they'll sell it for a premium [1]. 1: https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/bitcoin-is-trading-at-a-46-premium-on-luno-nigeria-after-central-bank-ban-2021-02-26 https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/bitcoin-is-trading-at-a-46-p...
rawtxapp 6y ago
One key difference is drugs are physical products, you can be "caught" with it, whereas cryptocurrency is completely virtual. Unless you're caught at exchange time, you could be walking around with millions of dollars worth of crypto around and no one would know.
- thethimble 6y ago
  You could use the same argument for digital piracy. There’s countless examples of people who have been caught and penalized for piracy.
- ikerdanzel 6y ago
  PC you use to transact is physical too. Your Internet can also be traced. In China, accessing wiki gets you prison time even though the users use VPN. Graphics cards for mining can be taxed very high. Kiddy porn is a better example here instead of drugs. You could be walking around with trillions usd in the form of diamonds. And yet if you're in a desert you are likely not able to use it and die of thirst. In everyday live you need liquidity. Governments ensure liquidity legally. Crypto can't. At best it is like rare baseball cards collections that you need to specifically find buyers that willing to pay for it through specialized locations (which governments can control). Pro cypto arguments are out of touch with realities. They basically banging on government will accept it. It is basically like hoping Myanmar will back off after seeing protestor. In general direct firing to kill should be expected and proven to work. Expecting government to give the ability to print money is very naive.
  - swiley 6y ago
    You could always run your transactions from a VPS in another country. Sure that won't work in China but India hasn't quite reached that level of totalitarianism.
swiley 6y ago
Yeah and the bottom really dropped out on the drug market when the US criminalized it... oh wait, no the opposite happened.
- 411111111111111 6y ago
  That can't be compared. Drugs are addictive, which makes the decision to stop hard. Legislation has been shown to work in nations which outlawed weapons for example.