The Global Bitcoin Conference Asks the Indian Government to Recognize Bitcoin

Amid Bitcoin being acknowledged as a legitimate currency by various governments including the U.S., the Global Bitcoin Conference has sought from Indian government that it too should recognize it a legitimize currency. The request has come when the lawmakers and central bank in the European Union have not yet decided on it.

Currently, most of the countries are adopting a wait and watch policy and similar strategy is being followed by the RBI. Whereas Germany considers Bitcoin a private currency, China considers a virtual commodity and transactions are taxed as such. However, the Chinese government has already declared that Bitcoin cannot be used in financial transactions.

In a similar pattern, Switzerland declared that Bitcoin is a foreign currency. Now the Global Bitcoin Conference has requested the India government to recognize the virtual currency. It can set standards for the other governments like Canada did which has already started taxing gains on trade in Bitcoins.

Seeks the Reserve Bank of India’s Intervention in the Bitcoin Industry

The Global Bitcoin Conference wants the Reserve Bank of India to intervene and recognize Bitcoin as well as it develops a framework for adoption of the virtual currency in India. India is vital for the Bitcoin economy, as it has the world’s third highest amount of internet users and largest software talent pool which can serve as a backbone.

The RBI was represented by a lawyer who attended the conference after a request from the organizers to understand the system better; however, there are no statements on his part to understand or know what the central bank’s stand on Bitcoin is. On the other hand, Sathvik V, MD of CoinMonk Ventures admitted that Bitcoin companies want a dialogue with the RBI.

Reach to Government and Policy Makers

The conference which was aimed to spread awareness about the virtual currency will set new guidelines for the stakeholders. A lot of people in India yet do not know about Bitcoin and there are hundreds of misconceptions and the biggest threat for investing in Bitcoins is that of regulators coming up with laws that affect the system retrospectively.

The worldwide effort on the part of the Bitcoin Foundation has been to educate law makers for broader understanding; the Global Bitcoin Conference in India aims for the same thing. It wants there to be no discrepancy between the Bitcoin companies and the government regarding the nature of the currency.

To contact the reporter of this story: Deepak Tiwari at deepak@forexminute.com

Deepak Tiwari, a law graduate, has been working as a journalist for six years now. He currently writes on Bitcoin, economic, and Forex related news at ForexMinute, the brand new financial news portal ...

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