Noises in the Indian media Monday, August 27 suggest the country’s central bank is keen to improve its understanding of cryptocurrency and blockchain, allegedly setting up a dedicated unit a month ago. As Economic Times reports, citing “people familiar with the central bank’s plans,” the unit focuses on “research” of the phenomena, “to check what can be adopted and what cannot.” The reports come as cryptocurrency remains taboo for Indian banks after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) banned them from servicing industry businesses in April. Despite a slight nuance set to allow cryptographic tokens (but not cryptocurrencies themselves), official …

The Indian government is considering whether to allow crypto tokens to be used in the country, despite its hardline stance on cryptocurrencies, local news outlet DNA India reports August 10. A committee set up by the finance ministry, under the chairmanship of the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) secretary, is reportedly working on a set of regulations and roadmap to allow certain crypto assets to be used in India. Once the draft proposals are finalized, the legislation will be tabled before the Parliament, according to DNA’s source. DEA secretary Subhash Chandra Garg, who is heading the committee, is quoted by …

Unocoin, a major Indian crypto wallet provider and exchange, has suspended rupee (INR) deposits and withdrawals “as per orders” from the country’s central bank, according to Unocoin’s blog post July 23. Unocoin notified its customers that fiat deposits and withdrawals are “temporarily disabled” until “an alternative method of funding is identified and deployed.” Meanwhile, crypto asset deposits continue to be active on both Unocoin’s crypto-rupee trading platform and partner crypto-crypto exchange Unodax. Unocoin users can also continue to use their existing rupee balance to buy and sell Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), and crypto-rupee and crypto-crypto pairs remain live on …

India's central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), has urged the country’s Supreme Court to regulate cryptocurrencies, local news outlet the Financial Express reports July 21. In April of this year, the RBI announced it will stop providing services to businesses or persons dealing with cryptocurrencies, citing high risks. The RBI’s senior advocate Shyam Divan told a bench led by Chief Justice Dipak Misra that it is necessary to regulate Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies since these “particular means” will “encourage illegal transactions.” Divan also pointed out that the issue has “immense policy dimensions,” attesting that crypto has the …

The Supreme Court of India’s hearing on the central bank’s ban on crypto dealings, originally scheduled for July 20, has been moved to September, according to a July 19 Twitter post by a team of Indian lawyers involved in crypto regulatory analysis. The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) crypto banking ban was implemented in early April of this year, and prohibits local banks from providing services to any person or business that deals with cryptocurrencies. The July 19 tweet notes that the Supreme Court listened to “limited arguments” on the behalf of the Internet & Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) …

India is not going to put a blanket ban on digital currencies, but rather treat them as commodities, an anonymous source in the government told news outlet Quartz July 11. According to Quartz, a Finance Ministry panel has ordered a study on cryptocurrencies, which may suggest that the government would treat them as commodities. A senior government official with knowledge of the panel’s discussion told Quartz that they doubt the government aims to ban cryptocurrencies. The source said that regulators’ main concern is how to effectively regulate the trade and identify “where the money is coming from.” They added that, …

The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) deadline to implement ban to stop dealing with all crypto-related accounts expires Thursday, July 5, local news outlet The Times of India reports. The Supreme Court had also ruled earlier this week not to grant interim relief to those affected by the upcoming ban. Panjak Jain, who works in Indian blockchain and crypto communities as an investor and an advisor, tweeted on July 3 that “it’s unfortunate, but India’s Supreme court refused to stay the @RBI’s limitation on regulated entities from working w/ #crypto businesses.” Jain added that the “silver lining” is that the …

The Supreme Court of India has decided that no petitions can be filed in any High Court of India against the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) April 6 circular about ending all dealings with cryptocurrency, according to local news outlet Inc42. Citing a Twitter post May 17 from a team of Indian lawyers involved in crypto regulatory analysis, Inc42 reports that the Supreme Court has refused to pause RBI’s crypto ban and has ruled that no further petitions against RBI’s ban can be filed in any High Court. The Supreme Court has also reportedly set the next hearing date for …