The union budget 2018 had its rivals coming in most fields. Where the government made the life of lower-class sections and senior citizens rather easy, it was hard on the middle-class as Cryptocurrency startups and exchanges in India. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, in the Union Budget for 2018-19, said:
“…The Government does not consider crypto-currencies legal tender or coin and will take all measures to eliminate use of these crypto-assets in financing illegitimate activities or as part of the payment system. The Government will explore use of Blockchain technology proactively for ushering in digital economy.”
While Cryptocurrency is not a legal the government is researching on its used technology, blockchain, for the digital economy. Arun Jaitley mentioned that the government is seeking to take measures to eliminate the use of crypto-assets in financing illegitimate activities or as payments.
Both governments and banks are tackled with fixating to deal with cryptocurrencies, such as bitcoin. Many Asian countries have cracked down cryptocurrency, like Japan and China while South Korean policymakers. In the US, privacy issues could be a problem while both Germany and Singapore are cautious since there was no regulatory protection for investors.
The income-tax department has been set to issue thousands of notices to people engaged in cryptocurrency and those who have invested in such after a nationwide survey revealed that more than $3.5 billion worth of transactions have been conducted over a 17-month period. In India, the use of cryptocurrency is a violation of foreign-exchange. Reserve Bank of India has a group under research whether the digital currencies can be used as legal tenders or not.
India has always been opposed to cryptocurrency, claiming that they can be a channel for money laundering and terrorist financing, of course engaging and rising to deep at dark internet. Even social media companies like Facebook announced that it was banning all ads related to cryptocurrencies in an effort to fight scams.