Bitcoin gained tremendous attention by media recently and so as in the eyes of regulators of various countries. Bitcoin exchanges in India were suspended after regulators (The Reserve Bank of India ) warned about the risks associated with them.
RBI mentioned that :
- There have been several media reports of the usage of VCs, including Bitcoins, for illicit and illegal activities in several jurisdictions. The absence of information of counterparties in such peer-to-peer anonymous/ pseudonymous systems could subject the users to unintentional breaches of anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) laws
- The creation, trading or usage of VCs including Bitcoins, as a medium for payment are not authorised by any central bank or monetary authority. No regulatory approvals, registration or authorisation is stated to have been obtained by the entities concerned for carrying on such activities.
India had a small but exponentially growing Bitcoin community. They even organized a first Bitcoin conference at Bangalore which drove attention of banks and regulators. India being the developing country there are potential risk associated with it which was potentially observed by the regulators. However its still unclear where Bitcoin may reach in the coming years and was such move by India , China and other countries questionable.
