UnoCoin Founder Arrested For Operating India’s First Bitcoin ATM

THELOGICALINDIAN - Police in Bengaluru India afresh arrested UnoCoin cofounder Harish BV for illegally operating a Bitcoin ATM in the burghal almost a anniversary afterwards it was installed

‘Not Taken Any Permission from the State Gov’t’

According to The News Minutes, Bengaluru’s Cyber Crime Police assemblage brought advanced a case adjoin Unocoin for illegally installing a BTC ATM after any permission. A allotment of the account accustomed by the assemblage to the columnist reads:

Subsequently, law administration agents arrest Harish BV, 37. Local media sources additionally address that the badge confiscated several items begin with Harish including a teller machine, a brace of laptops, credit/debit cards, as able-bodied as a authorization and Rs 1.8 lakh ($2,400).

India

After the arrest, the badge paraded Harish afore the 1^st Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) Court in the burghal afore actuality adjourned in badge custody. Law administration admiral say that added arrests will acceptable follow, advancement the accessible not to abatement victims of counterfeit cryptocurrency advance opportunities.

Owning Bitcoin Not Illegal in India

Sathvik Viswanath who is a co-founder of Unocoin forth with Harish BV accursed the arrest. According to Viswanath, the buying, selling, and buying of Bitcoin is absolutely acknowledged in India.

The RBI ban alone prohibits banks from facilitating cryptocurrency transactions. Commenting on the matter, Viswanath said:

Viswanath additionally claimed bad publicity played a role in the arrest. In a Unocoin cheep acquaint recently, the aggregation said its BTC ATM was portrayed in “a abrogating light.” The aggregation additionally had affairs to install added of such machines in above cities like New Delhi and Mumbai.

Harish’s arrest is yet addition archetype of the tightening noose around cryptocurrencies by the Indian state. The RBI ban has already affected exchanges like Zebpay to shutter their operations in the country. Added platforms are reportedly because afterward Zebpay’s archetype by affective to added countries.

There are currently about 4,000 Bitcoin ATMs about the globe, according to the latest abstracts from CoinATMradar.

Do you accede that the arrest is baseless based on Viswanath’s point that the ownership, purchase, and auction of Bitcoin in India isn’t illegal? Keep the chat going in the animadversion area below.

Image address of Twitter (@Unocoin), Shutterstock