Indian Supreme Court lifts RBI ban on trading in cryptocurrency

The Indian Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed dealing in cryptocurrency, quashing an earlier ban imposed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on trading in virtual currencies such as Bitcoin, reported NDTV.

The development came as a major relief for the sector, as the RBI ban restricted lenders from facilitating banking transactions for cryptocurrency exchanges and traders.

In April 2018, the central bank had tightened rules to discourage the use of virtual currencies such as Bitcoins, prohibiting banks and financial institutions from providing any related services.

The central bank gave entities three months to snap all banking relationships with individuals or businesses dealing in virtual currency. That ban was aimed at "ring-fencing" the country's financial system from the private virtual currencies, deemed illegal by the government.

Bitcoin - the largest and most popular cryptocurrency - has appreciated by almost half so far this year, to regain the $10,000 mark against the US dollar for the first time since October.

Other major cryptocurrencies which tend to move in correlation with Bitcoin have also gained this year; while Ethereum has more than doubled, Ripple's XRP is up over 75 per cent.

The cryptocurrency's 11-year history is replete with fast ascents and equally rapid plunges. In late 2017, it rose three and a half times in just 35 days to reach almost $20,000. It then slumped 70 per cent in seven weeks. Such wild and often inexplicable swings are why Bitcoin faces a struggle to become a functioning currency.

Cryptocurrencies are digital currencies in which encryption techniques are used to regulate the generation of units of currency and verify the transfer of funds, operating independently of a central bank.

While many regulators around the world have been warning against trading in bitcoins, some have backed it. In 2017, Japan accepted bitcoin as legal currency and even officially recognised Bitcoin exchanges.