Unocoin’s co-founder was recently arrested by the police in India, while also seizing the firm’s ATMs, the law enforcement agency justified their actions by claiming the entrepreneur was operating outside the premise of the law and was not granted the permission to install the ATM.
India and Crypto Laws
The government of India in a bid to sanitize its financial sector that has been plagued with cyber crimes and hacks, the country thus placed a stringent law on any form of business that has to do with finance, be it traditional or its digital counterpart.
Harish B.V., the co-founder of Unocoin, was speedily rounded up by the police after report reached the authorities about the ATM that his firm installed in the city of Bangalore, observers were amused, as the installation was even less than a week old. Nevertheless, Sathvik Viswanath, who is also a co-founder of same organization is not hunted by the police, as there is deaf silence on his situation from the police authorities.
Though the machine was installed, it was yet to commence full operation, a tweet from the verified Twitter handle of Unocoin commented on the situation of the machine, the statement read:
“Our machine didn’t go well with few mainstream media reports who projected it under a negative light. The machine is still under final testing mode, and it will be up and running in the upcoming week. The machine has been temporarily moved from its original place of installation.”
Anti-Crypto Policies
Though the Indian government is claiming that it is hard on its financial measures to avoid fraud and hacks, but crypto market observers have observed that the laws governing cryptocurrency in India is rather too rigid and not flexible in any format.
Cryptocurrency startups in India are not enjoying the benefit and the soft landing being enjoyed in other countries, especially Malta, where the government fully supports the growth of cryptocurrency and the adequate use of the blockchain technology.
Due to the totalitarian nature of the Indian government, market observers are thus of the opinion that the crypto industry will not match the great feat the country is enjoying in the medical and ICT, and the country might lag behind others in that respect. This will be a big blow to the emerging economy and the young population who are yearning for more crypto friendly policies from their government.