Indian Hasn’t Truly Banned Crypto

It’s just hating crypto and ensuring that its growth in India is going to be a long journey.
On Thurdsay, India’s finance minister Arun Jaitley gave a budget speech that caused a huge wave of drama surrounding crypto currency (via The India Express)

Distributed ledger system or the block chain technology allows organization of any chain of records or transactions without the need of intermediaries. The Government does not consider crypto-currencies legal tender or coin and will take all measures to eliminate use of these crypto-assets in financing illegitimate activities or as part of the payment system. The Government will explore use of block chain technology proactively for ushering in digital economy.

One strong point of his speech is that the government he represents understands crypto is becoming a valid currency elsewhere, but they will not accept any part of it. The reason the Indian government doesn’t condone crypto is because it’s infamous for being used for the black market or other illegal activities.
This is the same stance that many other countries hold. Jaitley has already mentioned this in December, and discourages his country from using crypto. In an interview with CNN, he revealed that

There is a government committee that is looking into cryptocurrencies, and will announce their decisions and the next steps after they are done.

Truthfully, what the media has done is the same as usual: cause emotion and stir up the community. There was nothing to be concerned over the whole time, and they have nothing better to do than create fake news.