Even as crypto enthusiasts look forward to a possibly sunnier 2019 when it comes to the crypto markets, some jurisdictions are casting heavy clouds on that possibility. The police in the Indian state of Jahmu and Kashmir have issued a public statement which effectively warns the public against investing in crypto-currencies. This is according to a local business daily dated January 2.
In the statement, Indian police reportedly warned the public against the “heightened risk” of crypto investments such as Bitcoin (BTC) while also reminding any investor willing to per take in crypto, that crypto-currencies were not sanctioned by the Indian government. According to a report by the Business Standard, the police inspector general of the branch stated that;
“The general public is informed not to make any type of investment in crypto-currencies, virtual currencies such as Bitcoin because there is a real and heightened risk associated with them.”
The inspector general added that the crypto markets could very well see a sudden and prolonged crash, meaning that investors stood to lose their hard earned money.
India still upholds a ban on banks servicing crypto related operations after a circular was issued by the Reserve bank of India early last year. This tough stance on crypto has led to the shutdown of several crypto businesses, and a fallout with India’s crypto community that led to a case being filed with the country’s Supreme Court.
Early this week saw the country’s minister of state in the ministry of finance and ministry of shipping, Pon Radhakrishnan, saying that the Indian government was approaching crypto regulation with caution. He added that the lack of a “globally acceptable solution meant that lawmakers were unlikely to issue formal statutes in the short term”
January 2nd saw the country’s top bank reveal that it had postponed plans to come up with a national crypto-currency dubbed “crypto-rupee”. The central bank had first announced that it was considering a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in April of 2018, and went ahead to establish an interdepartmental group to look into the possible benefits of the move.
The findings of this group are yet to be revealed and according to an anonymous source quoted by the Hindu Business Line, “The government doesn’t want the digital currency anymore. It thinks it is too early to even think about digital currency.”
