India’s Supreme Court lifts ban on cryptocurrency trading – paves way for blockchain innovation

“We have received a positive development from India, with the country’s Supreme Court reversing a two year ban on cryptocurrency trading. When the Indian central bank, the Reserve Bank of India, had banned crypto trading to “ring-fence” the financial systems against virtual currencies, it effectively stifled the blockchain and crypto innovation in the country. While countries world over have been investing in developing digital tokens and leading on product innovation to solve complex socio-financial problems, India’s potential had been curbed and ground the industry to a halt. The two year ban saw companies operating in the space to close down and move elsewhere.

A lot of interesting projects have developed in the last couple of years, backed by traditional banking, finance, industry and governments – including JP Morgan’s JPM Coin backed by the US dollar, the Digital Yuan explored by the Central Bank of China, the Libra project by Facebook and the BOLT Token backed by blockchain and streaming platform BOLT.

Now there is an opportunity for India to catch up in the digital finance innovation race, and create innovative solutions to digitise the Indian economy. The potential is innumerable.

The Indian Supreme Court is currently hearing another case which will decide on regulations for digital currencies, and its judgement on reversing the crypto trading ban weakens the case for stricter norms.

We can expect Bitcoin and other major currencies to receive a shot in the arm in the coming days as a new investor and innovator market opens up.”