The Supreme Court of India insists on regulating Bitcoin

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The petition argued that the digital currency can be used in the implementation of non-traceable transactions across borders, which makes it an attractive tool for tax evaders and ransomware attackers.

According to the Indian newspaper The Hindu, in mid-November 2017, three Supreme Court justices have sent a notice to the central bank of India, market regulator, tax department and other responsible departments in which they were asked to respond a petition on the problem.

Based on the petition, the number of Bitcoin users in India is constantly growing. It also claimed that Bitcoin exchanges in the country add 2,500 users a day, and approximately 500,000 Indian citizens already have Bitcoin holdings. These events could adversely affect the market value of other commodities in the country.

The petition also listed some of the actions taken by other countries with regard to Bitcoin and other virtual currencies. Among these are the campaign against the exchange of cryptocurrencies in China and the transition of the Russian government to the block Bitcoin sites.

Because of these actions, the petition also called on the Supreme Court to intervene and ask the government to urgently decide how it will approach this issue.

The Government of India actually took a "wait and see" position on the issue of the digital currency. In April 2017, it created a committee to study bitcoin and other cryptocurrenies and how best to regulate them. However, it was not able to promote concrete steps to regulate virtual currencies.