NASSCOM’s president says cryptocurrencies are illegal.

Though India welcomes blockchain, they do not consider cryptocurrencies to be legal tender.

Debjani Ghosh, president of the Indian National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM), stated on Thursday that cryptocurrency is illegal in India while urging the players to comply with the law.

India and Crypto

While India with its large population has seen a massive inflow of people and money into the crypto space, cryptocurrencies still lack a legal definition in the country. Even without presice definition, however there is speculation of it getting outlawed in the country. Meanwhile, the government and the regulatory body have extolled the virtues of blockchain technology, but they still maintain a negative view of cryptocurrencies.

A year ago the government set up an RBI committee to check into the viability of cryptocurrency in the country. The committee is in the last phase of its review, and the report is being prepared to be given in December. Ahead of the report, speculations are rife that the report would recommend the ban of cryptocurrencies in the country.

Also, recently, as earlier covered by Blockchain Reporter, the first bitcoin ATM was launched in India, courtesy of the effort of the co-founder of Unocoin, Harish B V. The ATM was prevented from going live as the police arrested Harish. While the police stated that the founder had no permission to establish such, the founder argued that “The minister’s statement was clear: Cryptocurrencies are not legal tender in India. He did not say ‘illegal tender.’ There’s a huge difference. It means you bear the risk of your investment and there’s no regulation for the industry.”

Prospects grim

While commenting on the latest development in India’s crypto space, the president of NASSCOM, Debjani Ghosh stated that cryptocurrencies are illegal in the country. Ghosh stated that it is the law of the land and the citizens have to work with it. She noted that if the citizens do not agree to this, they have to go back to the government and speak about why cryptocurrencies are illegal in the country.

Ghosh’s opinion on the illegality of cryptocurrency in the country has to do with the failure of policymakers not keeping pace with the rapid technological changes taking place in the world. She noted that NASSCOM will focus its efforts on how to synergize technological development and policy making.

Notably, the cryptocurrency industry is still nascent and facing many challenges, however as Ghosh stated, policymakers have been seeking for how to create effective policy and regulations to annex the dividend of the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry.