Because there is a lack of clarity from the government, I am hesitant to trade crypto in India. The rules in India can be extremely draconian when it comes to policy and dealing with government authorities is not easy and not worth one's time. I don't want to get into trouble at any point in the future for buying something that can be termed illegal. India has numerous examples of implementing policy retrospectively, so they can call any transaction done in India at any point in time illegal.

That said, I think the government for now has changed its stance on crypto from negative to neutral. There are technocrats who have spoken positively about crypto, but then again they could be talking about private blockchains. Unless one sees how good or bad India's regulatory framework is, assessing govt. stance is difficult. There is a body that is working on drafting crypto regulations, so there isn't an outright ban. There would not be an outright ban either because if the west is adopting it, then India will also adopt it. I truly believe that India is waiting to see what happens in the US and Europe and they will draft regulations much in line with those in the aforementioned economies.

The central bank and regulator have no authority over this space unless there laws that tell the regulator what and how to regulate. Therefore RBI has clearly stated that none of its old notifications can be used by banks for anything crypto-related. However, it has said that banks can try and ensure adherence to all other regulations under which banks are governed. This is extremely negative because it is cost-intensive and banks have no technology to ensure the prevention of money laundering using crypto or any violation of the foreign exchange management act in a crypto remittance transaction.

Any tool that allows people to transact in monetary terms, that is not under government watch will be treated as a threat. Crypto won't be seen positively in India. However, any positive adoption from the west may force India to look at crypto positively. Then again, things happen so slowly over here that our crypto regulation may come 10 years after that of the west. Till then crypto in India will be an uncertain space. I have no hopes from Indian authorities to understand bitcoin/crypto.