China and India Government Set to Stripe Blockchain Technology of Its Most Priced Features—Anonymity
When ranking countries with stringent or no tolerance for cryptocurrency and blockchain technology in general. China has managed to find itself at the top of the list. China has released several policies in recent times targeted at undermining the crypto-industry. The latest in the line of this extreme policies is a report which is showing that China’s central government has drafted a new regulation that would strip blockchain of their anonymity.
Blockchain Platforms No Longer Anonymous
The report shows that the new regulation will require participants of the blockchain industry to provide their real names and national ID card numbers when registering for a blockchain service.
Earlier on, the government places a ban of all crypto relates services, including crypto related news portals to say the least. The banning of cryptocurrency trading has really affected the crypto community in the country and made business operating in this niche to leave the country for a more conducive environment.
This new policy is expected to take the ban on the blockchain industry to the next level. The new ban is expected to totally handicap the developmental progress of numerous ongoing blockchain projects.
Blockchain Services Now Required to Keep Backup and Vet Content
Recently, the blockchain technology industry was dealt a major blow. The Cyberspace Administration of China—China’s internet regulator, published a new policy, which makes it compulsory for blockchain services to remove “illegal information” quickly before it spreads among users. All blockchain platforms were also required to keep backups of user data for a minimum of six months and are required to make it available on request.
Breaking any of the cryptocurrency and blockchain related laws in China is likely to attract, warnings, fines, restrictions or jail time in some extreme cases.
The new policy is, however, open to deliberation and public comments. However, judging from previously related cases, the Chinese Government rarely takes comments into consideration.
India is Next
Another country which is following right in the footsteps of China is India.
India which was initially open and favorable to blockchain technology innovators and project has in recent time turned against the industry. It all started with the Reserve Bank of India issuing a nationwide ban on crypto-related transactions by any registered financial institution.
A statement coming from the Bank’s Deputy Governor, BP Kanungo further confirmed this.
He said that:
“We have now decided to fence RBI-regulated entities from the risk of dealing with entities associated with virtual currencies. They are required to stop having a business relationship with entities dealing with virtual currencies forthwith, and unwind the existing relationship within three months.”
This has led to many popular exchanges operational within the country to close shop or revert back to providing wallet services only.
A good example of this is Zebpay— one of the country’s oldest exchange. For exchanges which decided to continue operating their exchange within the country, several avenues have been employed to circumvent the ban. Unicoin, for example, plans to install crypto ATMs in strategic locations. Some exchanges have adopted the use of the USD pegged token—USDT, while others are now serving as a peer to peer crypto exchange.
One thing these two countries have pinpointed as the reason behind their sudden change towards the blockchain industry is that “it is full of scam”.
So in bids to secure its citizens from financial ruins, placing a ban on cryptocurrency is the way to go.
Although currently, the Indian Government has only banned banks from dealing with crypto-related business, unlike the Chinese government which has placed a blanket ban over everything related to crypto as well as to frustrate the effort of companies operating within the industry and has ongoing projects.
Experts Opinion
Experts have however noted that the ban placed by these governments to hinder the progress of blockchain technology within its borders, is largely driven by the government’s hunger and need for absolute control of its citizens and their narratives.
Since blockchain technology undermines the control the government, hence the blanket ban on it. The direction which Indian plans to take with its banning is still not yet clear. But going by a statement from the Finance Minister of India, Arun Jaitly, which states that:
“The government will take measures to eliminate the use of crypto-assets in financing illegitimate activities or as part of the payment system”
The future of blockchain technology in Indian might be on the same path as that of China.
