Bitcoin Exchange Operations Halted In India After Central Bank Warning

Bitcoin has suffered some blows to its value and tradability over the last few weeks. Bitcoin was dismissed as a currency in Norway a few weeks ago. Bitcoin was then banned as a normal currency in Chinese banks and the government warned that people were free to use the virtual currency at their own risk. The virtual money has been hit with another blow this week.

Bitcoin exchanges in India have stopped operations after the Indian central bank issued a warning to consumers. The cessation of operations at a Bitcoin exchange in India called BuySellBitco.in came after the central bank in the country issued an advisory that highlighted the risk of using virtual currencies.

That Bitcoin exchange handled transactions totaling about 12 million rupees, or a bit under $194,000 monthly. The closure of the major Bitcoin exchange in the country has also led to smaller exchanges stopping operations as well, including an exchange called INRBTC.

INRBTC has stopped its operations indefinitely. INRBTC says that all trades that were executed by December 26, 2013 will be processed completely. All pending orders will be cancelled and deposits will be refunded. The shuttering of the Bitcoin exchanges in India came after the central bank warned users earlier this week that Bitcoin was possibly being used in money laundering and terrorist funding. The warning is seen as a prelude to further clampdowns on the virtual currency even though no sanctions were issued along with the warning from the central bank.

SOURCE: ZDNet