- Facebook’s upcoming token is set to cause a stir in the Indian crypto Market
- The token will be peer-to-peer and thus, will not need banking services
Facebook is causing a bit of a stir in the Indian crypto market, even as several crypto firms in the country have been forced to shut down due to unfavorable laws. This shakeup is related to the highly-anticipated Facebook coin that the company is testing out within the Indian market under the codename of Libra. While many within the industry are highly anticipating the launch of the token and thus, the testing of it, it has been reported on May 13, 2019, that several companies within the Indian crypto space are wary of the token.
The reason for the wariness is that they believe that operation of the token might violate regulations within India that prevent the use of bank services for cryptocurrency-related transactions.
Crypto in India
India, for the most part, has not been very welcoming towards cryptocurrency as in April 2018, the Reserve Bank of India implemented a ban that prevents financial institutions from providing services to cryptocurrency-related businesses within the country. This singular act led to the shutting down and bankruptcy of many prominent firms in the country and its effects are still being felt to this day. Just like China, the country is hostile towards cryptocurrency but is willing to embrace blockchain itself, as it is seen as a way to prevent misuse of funds and encourage transparency.
However, the use of the Facebook token would not necessarily violate this ban as the token is expected to be used in a peer-to-peer manner and thus, not need a bank to transfer the money or buy or sell the currencies.
On the contrary, not only will Facebook not violate any laws related to cryptocurrency, the use of the Facebook coin will likely garner a great deal of legitimacy to the crypto industry in India. This is because the token will be backed up by a powerful name such as Facebook and will also likely make the government will consider their laws regarding crypto, especially if its use becomes very widespread in use to the point that they cannot be ignored.
“Anything like this which displays the usage of the technology by a legitimate player like Facebook or WhatsApp will bring a positive approach for the users,” said Sathvik Vishwanath, founder of Bengaluru-based Unocoin, adding that this is very good news for the community.
Seeing as the tokens expected to take operation by the next quarter, it will soon be revealed just how much affect the token will have on daily life in India and around the world, and also on global crypto-related regulations.
