NEW DELHI — India’s largest Bitcoin exchange, BuySellBitco.in was shut down yesterday by the government.
Only two days prior, the Reserve Bank of India issued a public advisory explaining the risks of using Bitcoin and similar cryptocurrencies, the Hindu first reported.
The news nips the heels of the Chinese government’s recent crackdown on Bitcoin exchanges, which once again set the nascent currency’s exchange rate reeling.
Other Indian news outlets reported that the house of BuySellBitco.in operator Mahim Gupta was raided by authorities on the basis that he may have violated local banking regulations by transmitting money across borders.
A notice posted on BuySellBitCo.in reads,“We are suspending buy and sell operations until we can outline a clearer framework with which to work. This is being done to protect the interest of our customer.”
While Bitcoin’s international woes seem to be mounting, Wired Business wrote today that its instability is understandable, given that the currency is only five years old — and that the fate of cyber currencies is far from sealed.
At post time, the Bitcoin exchange rate was $643.16, according to BitCoinExchangeRate.org.