By Shelly Melancon (Switzerland)
Indian authorities have clamped down on an IT-graduate who uses Bitcoin to purchase narcotics for drug dealers from the dark web. Makarand Pardeep Adivirkar (Crypto King) was arrested for drug-running in Mumbai, the country’s largest city. He allegedly buys drugs on the dark web with Bitcoin from his wallet, then delivers the drug for a certain commission.
India has been taking extra regulatory steps against cryptocurrencies since 2018. In 2018, the Reserve Bank of India had banned cryptocurrencies and transactions relating to them. However, the government’s decision was overturned by the Supreme Court of India in March 2021. The supreme court’s judgement faulted the government’s decision and opened the doors to crypto transactions.
In May, the Indian government had further reiterated the court’s position after an issue arose where a major bank in the country referred to the regulations in 2018, which the court had already overturned. The bank had cited the former position as the reason for prohibiting crypto-related transactions on customers accounts. While trying to clarify its position on the bank’s decision, the Indian government referenced the supreme court’s judgement in March.
Indian Government to Enact Favorable Crypto Regulations
Following the government’s position, according to reports, the government will be looking at settling for favorable crypto regulations instead of an outright ban, which the supreme court has already struck down, anyways. Reports indicate that the Securities and Exchange Board will be saddled with responsibility of managing the regulations on crypto in conjunction with the Ministry of Finance depending on the outcome of the Indian parliament’s meeting next month.
Also read:The publication claimed that the Parliament will deliberate on the bill during the Monsoon session in July to fashion out a viable plan on the regulations. Moreover, the Ministry of Finance has set up a professional team that is researching on modalities for the regulations and their research results may be considered during the Parliament’s session in July.
Meanwhile, in May, a group of technocrats had encouraged the Indian government to not categorize cryptos as currencies but as digital assets. Based on this, other crypto exchanges may be looking to penetrate the Indian market as Bitfinex, KuCoin and Kraken had stated plans to extend its services to Indians. The Indian government also plans to issue a central bank digital currency (CBDC).
Crypto Exchange, WazirX Denies Involvement
In view of Makarand’s arrest, India’s Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) have alleged that he had an account with WazirX, the largest crypto exchange in the country which he used in facilitating the drug transactions. The government organ also claimed that he had Bitcoin wallets in other exchanges as well. On the contrary, WazirX has denied any connection with the suspect, saying Makarand does not have an account with them and there was no trading activity on the exchange that pointed at the drug deal via the dark web. The exchange reiterated its commitment to KYC/AML requirements for every user.
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