CRYPTO-CURRENCY AND ISSUES RELATED TO IT
“The future of money is digital currency” – Bill Gates.
In modern economy, we have real money in paper and coins form and also the money in electronic wallet, debit & credit card etc. which are controlled by the Central or Common Authority. Crypto currency is a similar concept for digital currency but in a decentralized manner i.e., no server is involved for proceeding transactions and no Central authority to govern.Crypto - currency is digital currency in which encryption technique are used to regulate the generation of units of currency and verify the transfer of funds, operating independently of a central bank. It is mainly work on principle of “cryptography”. The prefix “crypt” mean ‘hidden’ or ‘vault’ and the suffix “graph” stands for ‘writing’. There are two major types of such currency ‘Bitcoin’ & ‘Altcoin’
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Bitcoin |
Altcoin |
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Found in 2009 A decentralized 1st crypto (Digital) currency using the alias ‘Satoshi Nakamoto’. |
These are also crypto other than Bitcoin i.e. Bitcoin blockchain derived crypto-currency : Bitcoin network was copied, forked and updated to make better crypto-currencies, like, Litecoin, Dogecoin, Bitcoin cash, Dash. Native blockchain derived: Many crypto currencies have their Blockchain like Ether, XPR. |
Purpose |
Store of value, send money over internet, operates free from central control, make transaction across globe cheaper & faster, combat inflation. |
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Feature |
Limited in supply, decentralization, Transparency, value determined by demand. |
Cryptocurrencies in India
In 2018, RBI issued a circular preventing all banks from dealing in Cryptocurrencies. This circular was declared unconstitutional by Supreme court in landmark case of Internet and mobile association of India Vs RBI, Writ petition (civil) No. 528 of 2018 (with 3 judge bench). The court predominantly examined the matter from perspective of Article 19(1) (g) of Indian Constitution, specifically on “ground of proportionality”.
Recently the government has introduced bill called “Crypto currency and Regulation of Official Currency Bill, 2021” to create sovereign Digital currency and simultaneously ban all private Cryptocurrencies.
Why RBI against the use of Cryptocurrencies?
( A ) Sovereign Guarantee : It poses risk to consumers. They don’t have sovereign guarantee & hence are not legal tender.
( B ) Market Volatility : Their speculative nature make them high volatile.
( c ) Risk in security : A user losses access to their cryptocurrency if they lose their private key.
( d ) Malware threat : In some cases, these keys are stored by technical service providers ( Cryptocurrencies exchange or wallets) which are prone to malware or hacking.
( e ) Money laundering
Issues Associated with Banning Cryptocurrencies
1. Blanket ban – Categorizing it as public or private is inaccessible as these are decentralized not private. Bitcoin can’t controlled by any entity private or public.
2. Brain-Drain – Ban result in an exodus of both talent and business from India. (e.g. –Experts moved to Singapore, Switzerland, Estonia & U.S., where crypto regulated)
3. Deprivation of trans-formative Technology – It will deprive India its entrepreneurs & citizen of trans-formative technology that is being rapidly adopted across the world like Tesla & MasterCard.
4. Contradictory Policy – Banning is inconsistent with draft National Strategy on blockchain, 2021 of The Ministry of Electronic & IT (MEITY), which hailed blockchain technology as transparent, secure & efficient.
Conclusion : India is currently on the cusp of the next phase of digital revolution & it is believed that by 2030,Cryptocurrencies would occupy 25% of national currencies and India has the potential to channel its human capital, expertise and resources into this revolution. All that needed to do is to get the policy making right.