Supreme Court Allows Trading in Cryptocurrency, Cancels the Ban of RBI

India's Supreme Court on Wednesday permitted banks to deal with cryptocurrency transactions from exchanges and merchants/traders, upsetting a restriction on such dealings by the central bank that had come as a significant hit to the flourishing business. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had requested monetary establishments to sever all ties with people or organizations managing in virtual currency, for example, Bitcoin within three months, in April 2018. The ban prompted falling exchange volumes and trades closing their organizations or business.

The CEO of WazirX, Nischal Shetty said, "Ventures had halted and start-ups were avoiding beginning business in the crypto and blockchain space in India which will change now that the Supreme Court has said that the RBI circular was unconstitutional".

Be that as it may, the industry still faces jumps as a government panel, named to investigate the issue, has prescribed that India should ban all private cryptocurrencies. In July, the board additionally prescribed a prison term of as long as 10 years and substantial fines for anybody dealing in digital currencies. The government, however, is yet to follow up on these suggestions and is yet to settle guidelines around cryptocurrencies. On a few events, the government alongside the central bank had forewarned people in general about the risks of cryptocurrencies. On the off chance that the government follows the board's proposals, it could flag the stopping point for these digital currencies in India.

Anirudh Rastogi, founder at Ikigai Law, a firm that represented crypto exchanges in a lawsuit said, "There keeps on being an all-encompassing apprehension that the government may turn out with a law which might be ominous however for the time being this is a decent move as the trades can return to crypto-to-fiat exchange which had stopped." Governments around the world have been exploring approaches to manage cryptocurrencies and no significant economy has made the intense stride of putting a sweeping prohibition on owning digital currencies, despite the fact that worries have been raised on the misuse of consumer data and its possible effect on the financial system.

The requirement for guidelines encompassing digital currencies has likewise gained momentum after Facebook Inc reported designs to launch its cryptocurrency, Libra. A few central banks far and wide are additionally thinking about giving their own digital currencies in the next few years, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) said in a report in January this year.

India's government selected board had additionally suggested considering the launch of an authoritatively supported digital currency for use in the nation which can work like monetary orders and be controlled by the central bank. Eyes will presently be on the RBI to check whether they think of new guidelines encompassing digital currencies that can address administrative worries just as help development in the ecosystem, said L Viswanathan, Partner, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, a law office. "This (administering) may likewise catalyze the potential for the utilization of blockchain in various zones," Viswanathan included.

The Supreme Court quashed the Reserve Bank’s order banning cryptocurrency in banking transactions completely. In April 2018, the RBI ordered banks not to do any transactions through bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. The Supreme Court has accepted that this is a very strict step.

The Internet and Mobile Association of India, the organization of cryptocurrencies trading in India challenged this and said that the Indian government has not banned cryptocurrency. In such a situation, the Reserve Bank did not have the authority to make such an order on its behalf.