Former Coinbase CTO Balaji Srinivasan has warned that India’s impending ban on Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies would be like banning the “financial internet.”
Former Coinbase CTO Balaji Srinivasan thinks India’s impending cryptocurrency ban would be akin to banning the internet and could cost the country trillions in potential profits.Speaking in an interview with The CapTable, Srinivasan said a blanket ban on Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies would simply redirect trade revenue into nearby Asian markets, amounting to a “trillion-dollar” mistake for India:“It’s really important that the ban (India’s plan to ban owning, trading, mining or investing in cryptocurrency) should not go through. It would be a trillion-dollar mistake for India, without exaggeration.”On Feb.11 an anonymous senior Finance Ministry official told Bloomberg that the upcoming ban was very likely to occur, revealing that crypto holders will have 3–6 months to convert their funds back into legal tender. The Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill was introduced in late January, and also lays the groundwork for an official digital currency issued and overseen by the Reserve Bank of India.Now an angel investor and entrepreneur, Srinivasan suggested that India could end up 20% poorer than it otherwise would be over the next five years, should the ban go through. The former general partner at Andreessen Horowitz …
