India Central Bank ‘In Process’ of Making Bitcoin Regulation

India has refused to comment on its progress with cryptocurrency regulation, only appearing to confirm that official plans were “in progress.”

Reports by local news outlet Economic Times quote Reserve Bank of India Deputy Governor NS Vishwanathan as making comments to the press at an event in Calcutta today.

“I can’t comment on a policy that is still in the making,” he said.

Draft proposals of a recommendations on how to regulate cryptocurrency in India surfaced in August. These were the result of a government panel specifically tasked with researching the issue in April.

Cryptocurrency investment and trading have ballooned in the country ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s highly contentious cash reforms began in November 2016.

Dash Core CEO Ryan Taylor said earlier this week:

“Measures of economic freedom are strongly correlated with economic success throughout the world. In India, a great deal of friction was introduced with the immediate banning of the vast majority of the country’s circulating currency. In contrast, digital currencies are freely transferred person-to-person anywhere in the world instantly. This can have a dramatic positive impact on an economy suffering from onerous financial restrictions like India.”

Indians have overwhelmingly used cash as the basic means of exchange, and aggressive government plans to make payments digital and link transactions to participants biometrically have received considerable criticism.

Taylor added:

“I doubt digital currency will overtake the rupee anytime soon, but dysfunction certainly creates the right environment to motivate consumers and businesses to seek an alternative like digital currency to address their needs.”

Source : Cointekegraph 

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Blockchain Startup Gives A Hand to The Indian State for Land Registry Pilot

The Indian state of Andhra Pradesh is working with startup ChromaWay on a land registry pilot that uses blockchain to track the ownership of property.

The state government has been exploring a number of uses for blockchain in recent months, and in September it inked a separate partnership with startup WISekey related to identity solutions. Andhra Pradesh is one of several regional governments in India to look into applications of the tech, and land registries – systems used to keep track of who owns what property – have been highlighted by other governments worldwide as one area in which the technology could lead to improved services.

The test platform being built with Sweden-based ChromaWay is part of the Fintech ValleyVizag initiative launched by the southeast Indian state.

According to the parties involved, it utilizes a distributed ledger on the back-end and a straightforward web-app front end, which provides "radically transparent access to data," according to ChromaWay.

J. A. Chowdary, special chief secretary and IT advisor to the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, said in a statement:

"Blockchain is the technology of the future. It will not only change the way we perceive processes but it also has the potential to transform the economy. Of course, we all are yet to fully discover this technology and hence the Government of Andhra Pradesh has engaged with startups from across the globe such as Chromaway to run proofs of concept within its own departments."

The project represents the latest public sector partnership for ChromaWay. Sweden's land registry authority, the Lantmäteriet, revealed in April that it is working with the startup on a land registry initiative. Other participants in that effort include banks SBAB and Landshypotek, as well as the consultancy Kairos Future.


Source: Coindesk

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