How Indian Crypto Enthusiasts Can Help Influence Regulation

The Indian crypto community is ramping up its efforts to bring about positive crypto regulation and an end to the banking ban imposed by the country’s central bank. There are several ways Indian crypto enthusiasts can join in on the efforts, the CEO of a local crypto exchange, who has been running a popular social media campaign for the two causes, has shared with news.Bitcoin.com.

Also read: Indian Supreme Court Set to Hear Crypto Case on March 29

File Right to Information (RTI) Requests

As the Supreme Court of India prepares to hear about the country’s crypto regulation from the government, the Indian crypto community is accelerating its efforts to positively influence crypto regulation and lift the banking ban imposed by the central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

Nischal Shetty, CEO of local exchange Wazirx, who started the “India Wants Crypto” social media campaign, shared with news.Bitcoin.com Sunday several ways Indian crypto enthusiasts can join in on the efforts. One is to “Ask the right questions to RBI (through RTI),” he began.

Tweeting to his 56.3K followers last week, Shetty urged them to file RTI requests asking the central bank two questions. They are: “Did you have any solid data that led to implementing banking ban on crypto transactions?” and “Do you have any data to prove banking ban on crypto transactions has led to reduction in money laundering?”

“[I] want it to be a group effort,” he continued, adding that together is better than alone. At the time of this writing, several people have agreed to file an RTI; one person already has.

The central bank revealed in response to an RTI filed in July last year that “it conducted no research or consultation before the implementation of restriction in April. The RBI also responded that no committee was ever formed for analysing the concept of blockchain before the decision,” the Economic Times reported. In August, there were reports that the RBI had created a dedicated unit for crypto, blockchain and AI, which it subsequently denied.

Engage in Social Media Campaigns

Another way anyone can help is by participating in one or more social media pushes such as Shetty’s India Wants Crypto campaign. Since Oct. 31 last year, he has been tweeting to ministers daily, calling for positive regulation and explaining to them how crypto can benefit India. One of his tweets reads:

Positive crypto regulations in India will help create wealth and jobs for millions of Indians. Millions of youth in India want to see positive crypto moves by the government.

Shetty detailed, “Let’s get the attention of our finance minister whom we’ve voted to power so that he can help us. We need to present to him hard facts about crypto so that he can understand why millions of Indian youth are opting for crypto.” He emphasized, “This is a movement that can never be accomplished without everyone.”

Last month, he shared his campaign’s stats and revealed that “Every day there are 100s of retweets and likes and thousands of views.” Over a period of 99 days, his campaign generated 1.48 million impressions, resulting in 57,374 user interactions such as retweets, replies, and likes.

Participate in Meetups

The third way to help effect change is to “Participate in meetups to spread awareness of [the] banking ban and how it’s not justified as [the] ban was done arbitrarily, without any data to back it up,” Shetty conveyed.

Crypto awareness organization Blockchained India, for example, holds monthly meetups in Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Mumbai. In addition, the group has held open town hall meetings in Delhi, Mumbai, and Hyderabad. The next meeting will be in Bengaluru on March 30. Urging the community to join in on the roadshow and voice their opinions regarding crypto regulation, Blockchained India cofounder Akshay Aggarwal affirmed:

The intentions with this roadshow are pure. We want to help the good folks hustling day and night from the crypto space.

Industry participants and crypto enthusiasts who attended the group’s past roadshow meetings shared their thoughts and ideas on crypto regulation for India. According to the group, the best ones will be submitted to the government.

Educate and Spread Knowledge

Two other ways that could help involve educating people and spreading the cause. Shetty recommends for anyone with friends in the media to educate them about crypto because “their viewpoints reach the government faster,” he believes. Furthermore, he suggested that anyone can “Blog about why the banking ban in India is shortsighted and hurting innovation in the Indian crypto ecosystem,” concluding:

All in all, the more Indians and Indian media cover the fact that banking ban by RBI was done without any data, the better our chances of reviving crypto in India.

What do you think is the most effective way to help influence crypto regulation and lift the banking ban? Let us know in the comments section below.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock.

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