Bitcoin needn’t be under cover
Here’s another one for the Central Bank (CB). Bitcoin trading which hasn’t been sanctioned by the CB is in fact very much happening but probably not without the regulator’s knowledge.
In 2018 the CB notified the public saying that it hasn’t licenced or authorised any entity to operate schemes on virtual currencies, including cryptographical functions to do transactions, and hasn’t authorised Initial Coin Offerings (which are the cryptocurrency industry’s equivalent to an initial public offering -IPO).
However CB in its roadmap the following year said the rising demand for digitalised financial services has created an opportunity for Sri Lanka to evaluate the possibility of adopting Blockchan Technology to further advance the country’s financial sector.
The important question raised is how are Bitcoin traders getting around currency restrictions?
The Business Times learns that there are at least three different internet platforms which allows buying and selling Bitcoin with five forms of payment.
This revelation came on the back of India proposing one of the strictest policies against cryptocurrencies while building a structure for an official digital currency.
So far CB’s laws are dubious in that CB hasn’t ‘banned’ Bitcoin but there’s a ban on local rupees leaving the country.
An industry source told the Business Times that Bitcoin platform user registrations were very high since last June when the pandemic was in full force.
This presents a compelling argument to hasten adopting digital currencies, thus creating a robust market for it.