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This is interesting. So your brother thinks that in the near future the RBI will say that Buying bitcoin is a crime. Bitcoins will be the same as cocaine or ..

by ashray 13y ago

This is interesting. So your brother thinks that in the near future the RBI will say that Buying bitcoin is a crime. Bitcoins will be the same as cocaine or .. well in India sex toys also share similar status. I personally find it quite unlikely that a democratic country will prohibit it's citizens from transacting in something like bitcoin. But hey, crazier things have been known to happen. However, I'd like to ask. Why preemptively assume that bitcoin will be declared illegal ? I can understand that the RBI is conservative and they forced Paypal to create automatic bank account withdrawals, etc. Basically move everything into their system so that people cannot store huge sums of money in their Paypal accounts. But how would they go about outlawing bitcoin ? I'm curious about the technical as well as political aspects of such an event. I think countries like Germany and Singapore may have been the first to realize that there isn't really much you can do to 'ban' bitcoin. You just have to play ball and then come up with solutions as problems come up. A move like China wouldn't be possible in Germany (maybe in Singapore though.. yes..).

PeterisP 13y ago
As far as I know importing/exporting any currency in India is controlled, so unless it's explicitly permitted by the regulators, buying bitcoin can be treated as smuggling currency over the border without declaring it and (IANAL) it's a crime in India. How would they go about outlawing bitcoin? The same as cash deals, catch some of them and prosecute them harshly enough to scare others from making the practice widespread.
- Aqueous 13y ago
  Well, a long-term ban on personal BitCoin usage (i.e. merely mining and sending/receiving) is unenforcable. More likely a ban would target the commercial means of acquiring BitCoin. So mining enterprises and exchanges and payment processors would be the targets of any ban just like in China with the latter two. If you make it impractical to buy or otherwise obtain BitCoins then you've as good as outlawed it, allowing only small, black market, person to person exchanges.
sreevishwa 13y ago
Very well put. Even if they were to make possessing bitcoin illegal, enforcing something like this is impossible. At best, they can close the Indian exchanges (why is again: bad) but this cannot stop people from transferring funds abroad and trading on a foreign exchange.

by ashray 13y ago

PeterisP 13y ago

As far as I know importing/exporting any currency in India is controlled, so unless it's explicitly permitted by the regulators, buying bitcoin can be treated as smuggling currency over the border without declaring it and (IANAL) it's a crime in India. How would they go about outlawing bitcoin? The same as cash deals, catch some of them and prosecute them harshly enough to scare others from making the practice widespread.

Aqueous 13y ago
Well, a long-term ban on personal BitCoin usage (i.e. merely mining and sending/receiving) is unenforcable. More likely a ban would target the commercial means of acquiring BitCoin. So mining enterprises and exchanges and payment processors would be the targets of any ban just like in China with the latter two. If you make it impractical to buy or otherwise obtain BitCoins then you've as good as outlawed it, allowing only small, black market, person to person exchanges.

sreevishwa 13y ago

Very well put. Even if they were to make possessing bitcoin illegal, enforcing something like this is impossible. At best, they can close the Indian exchanges (why is again: bad) but this cannot stop people from transferring funds abroad and trading on a foreign exchange.