Bitcoin is officially going to become a legal currency in India

About a month ago, I posted about how the Indian government was asking its citizens what to do with bitcoin (post here) – there were three option: regulated it, ban it, or merely observe its developments.

The move came after an Indian politician attempted to claim bitcoin was a Ponzi scheme and several media outlets decided to jump in and claim that bitcoin was an illegal currency in the country. A leading bitcoin exchange in the country, Zebpay, then claimed that according to the country’s laws, bitcoin was NOT illegal.

Following Zebpay’s assertion, the bitcoin community created a petition that gathered over 14,000 signatures but was 500 short of its goal. After the petition the Indian government stated to consider legalizing virtual currencies in the country and as such used the mygov.in portal to ask people what to do.

Most comments were positive and now Zebpay, the same exchange that defended bitcoin against the media, announced that the government decided to regulate bitcoins, meaning virtual currencies will now be legal in the second most populated country on Earth.

Bitcoin trading volumes in India have been rising and the legalization is expected to further increase bitcoin prices and trading volumes in the country. Various reports suggest the government is now creating a task force that is to create various regulatory frameworks.

The government’s goal is to legalize bitcoin in the short term. As pointed out on Twitter the cryptocurrency is going mainstream in the country with the help of its major exchanges Coinsecure, Unocoin, and Zebpay – so legalizing the currency will only make sense.

Follow, resteem and upvote @frsvp for more cryptocurrency news and developmments