Bitcoin (BTC) is known to be the first open-source, peer-to-peer, digital currency to be ever developed and released.
BTC was developed by a group of anonymous independent programmers to impair the bank-dominated monetary system and to decentralize capital market ventures.
Update :
The Supreme court verdict is out for the Crypto Vs RBI case. The banking ban imposed by RBI has been lifted by Supreme court by an order.
The coin dominates the entire cryptocurrency market with the highest market cap of $109,216,287,332.
Bitcoin in India
As Bitcoin is used all over the world, India is simply a part of the digital currency revolution. To date, India has many notable cryptocurrency exchanges, plus various other companies traversing cryptocurrencies and blockchain development in the country.
Cryptocurrency was widely popular in India, since it started gaining interest from investors, and one in every 10 bitcoin transaction in the world takes place in India.
Ever since Bitcoin became an attractive investment option, the Indian government and India’s central bank have made it wholly clear they aren’t pleased with virtual currencies.
The spike in bitcoin’s worth last year, which attracted swarms of investors, has only made the government more loud in its criticism. However, the question still remains!
Is Bitcoin Legal in India?
Are Bitcoins Legal in India?
Find a Suitable Wallet
There are many factors that worry an investor in terms of bitcoin, as digital currencies, being in electronic format, are inclined to losses arising out of hacking, loss of access. Yet, the most concerning factor remains to be the legality of the coin.
There are has been a lot of misunderstandings regarding a recent decision by the Indian government. Various sources seem to assert the fact that India has banned Bitcoin trading.
However, That is not the case at all, rather, the RBI is just ending its relationship between it’s own banks and any user or corporation dealing with cryptocurrencies.
With that being said let us conclude that there isn’t much to be concerned about. There happens to be no ban on Bitcoin and no evidence stating that the RBI deems it an illegitimate currency.
No funds have been frozen until now, and exchange users can continue to use the platform as they always have.
Currently, Bitcoin is undefinable due to its multifaceted characters. It can be employed as money, a stock and even commodity.
Some reports, however, have hinted that Indian government would soon term Bitcoin as an asset of the commodity class.
How to Buy Bitcoin In India?
Buying Bitcoins in India
Bitcoin spans countries and continents and is believed to possess the potential to become the new face of international currency standard. This signifies that anyone around the globe can use the Bitcoin platform.
However, things are not quite so simple if we live in countries like India where the coins are yet to be regulated by the government.
RBI’s recent announcement regarding the lack of support for bitcoin led to a great many banks removing their support from many of the top exchanges of the nation which led to the cease of trade on Zebpay, Unicoin, and Koinex.
However, Many exchanges overcome this situation by introducing P2P system.
But it is not the end of crypto trading in India, not for a long time atleast. Indian crypto supporters still have the opportunity of purchasing cryptocurrency from the following trading platforms:
LocalBitcoins
LocalBitcoins is an exchange service which also serves to match bitcoin buyers and sellers.
It is peer to peer trading exchange holding every payment method and allows people from varying nations to purchase bitcoin in return for their local currency.
In India, this company has operations in all major cities such as the New Delhi, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Surat, Chennai, Hyderabad, Chandigarh, Pune, Guwahati, and several more.
The most popular method of payment for bitcoin is via cash deposit. Nevertheless, users may carry out trades for whichever payment method they prefer.
Buying bitcoins through an in-person meeting, secured and aided by LocalBitcoins, may be one of the quickest and most private to buy bitcoins in any country.
Unocoin
Unocoin is India’s foremost Bitcoin platform. Here, consumers can buy bitcoin with any Indian bank account via online banking or NEFT and RTGS.
Unocoin has a built-in exchange that allows users to exchange Bitcoin for Indian Rupees (INR). Unocoin charges a 1% fee to buy or sell bitcoin.
Coinmama
Coinmama is a worldwide renowned cryptocurrency exchange that was brought to life in 2013.
The cryptocurrency exchange is owned and carried out by New Bit Ventures Limited with its headquarters located in Israel.
While Coinmama is considered as an exchange, users of Coinmama are limited to only buying certain cryptocurrencies, than selling or trading them, however, the exchange says they plan on adding this feature soon.
Coinmama allows customers in almost every country to buy bitcoin with a credit or debit card. They charge an 6% fee on each purchase.
Currently, the only cryptocurrencies available to buy on the exchange are Bitcoin and Ethereum.
WazirX
WazirX, another peer to peer trading platform, is on its way to becoming India’s most-trusted bitcoin exchange.
The exchange enables traders to buy, trade, and sell Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ripple, Ethereum, and many other cryptocurrencies in India. The exchange also has its native token – WRX.
The exchange is built on KYC, has mobile apps suitable for both Android and iOS users, which claims to provide multiple hundred transactions per second.
Changelly
Changelly allows users to buy bitcoin using Credit card, Litecoin, Dogecoin, altcoins and many other digital currencies.
Changelly works in nearly every country but you will need another cryptocurrency or credit card in order to purchase bitcoins.
Exchanges on Changelly are carried almost instantly since Changelly never actually controls your tokens but just exchanges them.
InstaShift
InstaShift allows users to buy or sell cryptocurrencies in a unique multi-party peer to peer model in an incredible experience.
The exchange provides the prospect of selling crypto in escrow and expects every buyer to have an existing wallet, which would certainly not be a problem for crypto enthusiasts.
The users can also collect money directly in their bank accounts and their cryptos in InstaShift accounts.
Bitbns
Bitbns is an upper-level p2p Indian crypto trading platform. Similar to Localbitcoins, it has an inbuilt wallet where you can save your bitcoins and crypto assets.
It promotes the crypto trading of 65 crypto assets in a peer to peer model.
How to Buy Bitcoins in India?
So, you have familiarized yourself with diffrent exchanges where you can buy and trade bitcoins in India, what next?
You have to learn how to buy bitcoins using any of these Exchanges. Hence here are some of the basic steps to consider while purchasing bitcoins in India.
- Find a Suitable Wallet
Bitcoins can be bought online and are stored in an online wallet in digital form.
You can choose from various bitcoin exchanges available in India such as, bitbns, wazirx, unocoin, koinex, etc.
Select a wallet based on features, platforms they can be used on, and security, etc
- Create an account
You can create your account on the exchange by registering on the selected bitcoin service provider.
This will provide you a safe place to store your bitcoin, including easy payment methods to transform your local currency into or out of bitcoin.
- Start Trading
After you have registered on the exchange, you can initiate buy bitcoin, and it will take you to the transaction and show you the rate at which you can buy the bitcoin.
As of now, bitcoins are trading on an average of $3500. Hence, so you will presumably be able to buy only a fraction of a bitcoin. You can sell your bitcoin in the same way.
Value of Bitcoins
Bitcoin was invented to impair the bank-dominated monetary system and to decentralize capital market ventures. It was mined using supercomputers by programmers credited by a prize of bitcoin.
Getting a bitcoin is not similar to buying a stock or bond. Bitcoin is not a corporate organization, so there are no balance sheets or reviews.
It is also not the same as investing in a fiat currency, as it is not distributed by a central bank or upheld by a government.
Hence the value of the coin does not depend on policies that influence the values of traditional currencies.
However, there are several factors that can influence the price of Bitcoin such as:
- the supply and market demand of bitcoin
- the number of virtual currencies competing
- the number of exchanges bitcoin is traded on
- regulations governing its sale
- it’s internal governance.
At the time of writing, the coins are trading at a price of 2,53,646.76 INR per coins.
However, the price of the coin is highly fluctuating and traders should take note of this before going all in.
Bitcoins are a great investment option that could open up many more possibilities in the coming future. Trade with a little bit of insight and intelligence and you might make a fortune out of it.
Happy Trading!
Join the community of subscribers & get exclusive Crypto tips & tricks
