India’s message should be loud and clear, we welcome the innovation and technology, but this isn’t a playground for fraud
There is no dearth of issues in the financial world with sharply dividing opinions. Please welcome the new entrant, Cryptocurrencies, rapidly emerging as the most prominent bell weather of the global economy.
For decades, market pundits have kept a hawk-eye out on four asset classes – Stock & bond indices, Oil, Gold and Currencies. It has taken centuries, geographies, discoveries, inventions, complex supply chains, millions of jobs and hundreds of global financial institutions to build these markets, which are today valued in trillions. Suddenly, the world sees this new kid (read asset) on the block, built with a software code, authored by a mysterious and untraceable soul (Satoshi Nakamoto) driving their century old markets. Very few people understand cryptocurrencies. Even fewer have actually transacted in one. But today everyone has an opinion on it.
Globally speaking, the jury is still out on whether cryptos are a virtual digital asset or a digital currency. Even the most advanced economies are still to develop regulations or find a regulator for this industry. Leading financial doyens, for one, Warren Buffet, has gone on record to say that cryptocurrencies are not a productive asset and he wouldn’t buy the whole of bitcoin even for $25.
European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde has said that crypto-currencies are “based on nothing” and…
