Is It Illegal to Own a Bitcoin In India?

vishnu · Post time 24-8-2023 23:01:51

I want to invest in some cryptocurrency, starting with Bitcoin. But first I want to be clear about its legal status.

harsh · Post time 24-8-2023 23:21:31

Owning Bitcoin is not illegal in India as long as you are correctly reporting your TDS and capital gains from cryptocurrency investments. The presence of a taxation system is clear to indicate that it is not illegal.

chetan · Post time 24-8-2023 23:40:46

Bitcoin was illegal in India after a RBI circular sometime back in 2017-18. However, that circular has been withdrawn after a Supreme Court Judgement. It is now legal to own Bitcoin in India.

raman · Post time 25-8-2023 00:26:06

If you are talking about whether you would be jailed for owning Bitcoin, you are probably mistaken.

It is true that there has been a lot of negative comments from RBI and the Finance Ministry, but they have not taken any step to create a law toward banning it.

A crackdown by several police departments in different states has taken place to trace and arrest scammers and money launderers.

But stay aware of transacting Bitcoin via P2P trade because there have been a lot of instances where people got their accounts frozen because they bought crypto from suspicious sellers.