Indian Parliament Member Answers Reporter's Question (Part 1): Why I Think Bitcoin Is Illegal in India

Golden Finance News - Recently, media from all over the world have been paying attention to the development of Bitcoin in India, among which the focus on Indian parliament member Kirit Somaiya is the most popular, because for the majority of Bitcoin supporters, the position of this Indian politician is very discordant.

Kirit Somaiya, a member of the Indian Parliament, has always insisted that Bitcoin is illegal in India because it lacks appropriate regulation. He advocated that the Indian government should make Bitcoin illegal as soon as possible and then announce it to the public.

Kirit Somaiya, a member of the Indian Parliament, has always believed that Bitcoin should be made illegal in India. Image source: Golden Finance

Recently, a foreign media interviewed Kirit Somaiya, who has suddenly become the focus of the world. Let's take a look at how Somaiya explained his views.

Reporter: You have expressed concerns about the widespread use of Bitcoin in India, believing that some people are trying to defraud innocent people in the name of this technology. You hope that Bitcoin will be declared illegal in India because there is no regulation on Bitcoin in India. But some countries have made rules, and Japan recently even announced that Bitcoin payment is a legal payment method, which is equivalent to indirectly recognizing the legal status of Bitcoin. What is your opinion?

Somaiya: This is illegal. Why can one or a few people stay behind the scenes and develop their own currency? This claim that Bitcoin can self-regulate and repair itself is nonsense. This absurd idea has been seen in Ponzi schemes.

We are in a civilized society where currency can only be owned by sovereign governments, and it is the sovereign governments that adjust and regulate currency. Blockchain is just a technology, it cannot be converted into currency. Imagine a group of people get together and declare that we have our own transactions, what kind of scene is this?

In Indian law, there is a simple definition for such behavior, namely hawala (an unorthodox and non-mainstream remittance system independent of traditional banking financial channels). Its transaction method is opaque and customers can trade in any currency, including US dollars, pounds, rupees, etc.

But now Bitcoin in India is being promoted in the name of modern transactions, which cannot be allowed. Because no one claims ownership of Bitcoin, which means no one is responsible for Bitcoin in India; no one regulates it. How can unregulated Bitcoin be allowed to circulate? All of this evidence about Bitcoin is ridiculous.

The vested minority, like the Indian landlords or the supporters of crony capitalism, are in favor of Bitcoin in India. I cannot agree with them and I have told the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) about this. If you declare Bitcoin illegal in India, how can you make it work in the country? It is impossible.

Reporter: So why don't the investigative agencies take any action?

Somaiya: Thanks to our efforts, the Indian Parliament and the Indian government have now put this on the agenda. Everyone knows that the view that "Bitcoin is illegal in India" already exists. For the first time, the Indian government has set up a special committee to investigate Bitcoin in India. I don't agree with Japan's approach. In fact, no one knows what happened to Bitcoin in Japan. But this is our country, our motherland. I want to find out what Bitcoin is.

They unilaterally use Bitcoin as a currency unit. Once you use this kind of electronic currency, it will make you violate the law unconsciously. How can a civilized society allow such events to happen? For example, Bitcoin comes today; tomorrow "money single coins" will also come; the day after tomorrow, a plastic coin will appear.

So, what is Bitcoin? What is its value, what is its net worth? What is its guarantee? Bitcoin India is currently being used to purchase medicines in colleges; even now, Bitcoin India is misleading that you can invest in it.

How ridiculous is this. If Bitcoin is a currency, how can it allow individual users to invest in it? Some even say that Bitcoin in India will appreciate by 4,000%.

So, it’s just a scam. I told the RBI people that there was a huge forex scam in India in 2007-2009, when India lost more than 1 trillion rupees. All the top companies and banks in India have lost billions of rupees. (Bitcoin India is probably the second scam.)

Now that US regulators have discovered that Bitcoin is a scam, US Bitcoin exchanges have been punished accordingly. Has anything happened in India? No.

So, RBI should get all the rights related to Bitcoin in India and then make it the responsibility of RBI to regulate Bitcoin. If RBI cannot allow it, I will oppose the opinion of RBI. RBI says Bitcoin is illegal, then it must take action. We will see RBI take action.