In posts about cryptocurrencies by the “believers”, there is always a false this-versus-that. Typically, it’s some form of the freedom of the people versus the big-bad-government.
Some “Vadim Popov” (the article does not state why his opinion is useful or relevant and who he is) states the following:
“Regulators are afraid of losing their influence, since state funds and assets are a tool of power and influence, first and foremost. The state and its representatives are afraid of losing such an important control lever most than anything else — what if all of a sudden everybody would switch to cryptocurrencies? And how, for example, it would be possible to track taxable processes? This is a challenge for any state machine, and they all will all try to cope differently with the situation, which is new for them,” says Vadim Popov.
Well, yes. Taxes and keeping the financial system safe from money launderers and scammers is threatened by not regulating rigorously the use/permission to use cryptocurrencies.
India is a developing country with a vast experience of corruption. Corruption is really the problem. Honest regulators everywhere recognize that crypto is a super efficient safe haven for laundering money and selling illegally such things as natural resources, weapons, drugs, wildlife, etc. With corruption already a problem, why make it easier or, at least, easier with those with the means to use it for these purposes. The poor, of course, are typically left out of these “opportunities”.
And you often hear nonsense about crypto helping those who want to avoid the official corruption. This is just a canard and a diversion which ignores the fact that those transacting the corruption on the largest scale are those with the sophistication and access to technology and hard currency or adequate amounts of local currency to use crypto. So the overwhelming “benefit” goes to those at the top of the chain.
Some even argue that crypto evens the playing field. Well, I can only suggest that those arguing such a position have not visited or studied how corruption works in developing countries. The most likely outcome of enabling crypto in these countries is to give a better tool to further entrench those responsible for corrupt and undemocratic norms. The end result is there is greater power handed to those folks and less likely a reckoning for them.
