India government committee recognizes crypto’s value

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Bank of America executives once said that they were concerned that cryptocurrencies could disrupt the financial institution’s business model. That’s the same as if a new fast food restaurant opens next to the only other fast food restaurant available in a city of 100,000 people. It showed that the bank was fearful of losing its market dominance, which proves the legitimacy of crypto. Now, a committee established in India to review the crypto space has also legitimized the future’s currency, stating that it believes that crypto could disrupt the rupee.

A report published by Quartz yesterday indicates that the committee, led by Indian Economic Affairs Secretary and former World Bank Executive Director Subhash Chandra Garg, recognizes the role crypto has as an alternative to fiat. Quartz quoted an anonymous source from India’s crypto industry, who allegedly met with the committee, as saying, “If Bitcoin and other digital currencies are going to be allowed to be used for payments then whether it will end up destabilising the fiat currency is a major concern for them [the committee].”

The source also stated that the “overall impact on the financial ecosystem that it is likely to have is still unclear and it has been a challenge to convince them on this particular point.”

India has often tried to prevent the crypto space from expanding within its borders. The country’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India, has prevented banks from operating with crypto organizations and there seems to be a lack of consensus regarding whether the industry should be regulated or completely banned.

The same committee that feels crypto could threaten the rupee said last month that digital currencies should be banned. It then stated – just a couple of weeks later – that crypto should be legalized.

The concern shown by India, as well as other governments and companies, isn’t that cryptocurrencies aren’t legitimate. To the contrary, they prove that crypto has validity and a rightful place in economies. Those entities are only fearful that they could lose the control they wield, relinquishing it to the people. That’s exactly what crypto is designed to do – give economic control back to individuals – and this is also why it will succeed.