Bitcoin to Make India Inroads?

Might the move to a cashless society in India also embrace bitcoin?  The notoriously volatile cryptocurrency has had its share of headlines stretching across transaction fees and even hacking.  But last week saw some exploration – OK, call it the exploration of possibly exploring – the idea that bitcoin could be used in India.

As reported in trade publications covering virtual currencies, bitcoin and its brethren are not likely to be ruled illegal in India, as noted by cryptocoinnews.com.  That’s a step toward mulling whether such currencies should be allowed into the monetary system itself and follows the March formation by the country’s finance ministry of a committee charged with examining the status and promise of virtual currencies globally and potentially in India.  Bitcoin and other offerings will probably be governed by the country’s central bank, cryotocoinnews.com reported.

Also in Asia, and also in news tied to oversight of China’s financial arena, China has established a panel to oversee financial stability and regulate the financial sector at large.  Economists told ChinaDaily.com that the supervision is necessary in a fragmented market.  One economist, Lian Ping, with the Bank of Communications, has said that the committee, taking shape under the State Council, can help alleviate weaknesses in the system and should be a decision-making  body rather than an advisory one.

Here in the States, a fight seems to be brewing, as perhaps might be expected, over the controversial Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rule that would allow class-action suits to be filed against financial services companies.  An official of President Donald Trump’s administration, Keith Noreika, U.S. Comptroller of the Currency, has asked the CFPB to halt implementation of the rule.  The official said, as Reuters reported, that his own agency has not had the chance to review the rule, and that data have not been provided by the CFPB. In addition, Noreika has said that such a review would be geared toward making sure that the allowance of class-action suits would not ultimately be harmful to the safety of those banks affected by the new mandate.