Judgement Day? India Given Four Weeks to Formulate Crypto Regulations

The Supreme Court of India has directed the government of the country to formulate regulations for the cryptocurrency industry within the next four weeks.

According to a Feb 25. report from local news outlet, inc42, the court was in session today to address the case between the Reserve Bank of India and crypto exchanges who were cut off from local banks since 2017.

Interestingly, the court session which was led by two judges Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman and Justice Vineet Saran ended with the India central government receiving a final notice to formulate crypto regulations in four weeks, or a decision would be taken in its absence.

According to Nischal Shetty, founder and CEO of cryptocurrency startup WazirX, this is the first time that the court has “fixed a timeline for the government to introduce a regulatory framework around crypto assets.”

Crypto enthusiasts in India and the rest of the world will hope that the latest court decision will lead up the settling of the conflict and yield a favorable result to the country’s crypto ecosystem.

Reserve Bank of India Vs Crypto Industry Overview

• On April 6, 2018, the RBI ordered all financial institutions under its jurisdiction not to provide any form of banking service to crypto-related firms primarily including crypto exchanges.
• The ban sparked outrage from various crypto enthusiasts and crypto exchanges who asked the bank to revisit its decision and subsequently appealed to the Supreme Court.
• The exchanges argued that the central banks were infringing on their rights to run their businesses in the country.
• A court ruling tasked the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to release regulations for the crypto industry or reverse its ban.
• In November, the RBI filed an affidavit saying it would release the regulations as soon as possible, but gave no deadlines, since the court order did not declare any.
• While the ban lasted, Indians were forced by local banks to avoid having anything to do with cryptocurrencies or risk losing their accounts.
• The latest court decision has no set a 4-week judgment day for the Indian central government to release regulations and possible liberate the country’s crypto ecosystem.

The clock is ticking!