Crypto , the good, the bad and the ugly all on a platter as the govt gears to ban all private digital tokens this Winter Session of the parliament. So, what are the major concerns around the cyptos in a nation that has $10 billion already invested in it?
- All private cryptos to be banned: The government has indicated they will prohibit all the private cryptocurrencies in India except 'a few'. The lucky left will be to their underlying technology. This has created a lot of confusion among investors as the guessing game of 'survivor'.
- Survivor Finale: Former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan recently told in an interview that out of 6000-odd cryptocurrencies, only one or two will survive. The bets are highest on popular Bitcoin and Ethereum.
- Crypto or Chit fund?: Cryptos may pose the same problem as unregulated chit funds which take money from people and go bust, a lot of people holding crypto assets are going to be aggrieved, Rajan pointed out in an interview to CNBC TV-18.
- Money laundering and terror financing: Globally the rise of crypto trade has elevated concerns of money laundering. Relaxed or rather no KYC regulations leads to anonymity that can facilitate large sums of 'funds' being transferred without regulation. In June, specialist detectives from the London Metropolitan Police Economic Crime Command, investigating money laundering offences, seized crypto assets worth £114 million. Hong Kong police as welll earlier this year busted a cryptocurrency money laundering scheme worth HK$1.2 billion
- Financial instability: Volatility and wild swings that the biggest reason why the Reserve Bank of India has repeatedly raised the red flag against unregulated digital token. Last month also, the central in a note highlighted that cryptocurrencies come with potential macroeconomic concerns and may lead to financial instability. Bitcoin, the world's most popular crypto has seen over 50% swings in just the last 10 months.