U.S. president Harry S. Truman had
a sign with this inscription on his desk.
This was meant to indicate that he didn't 'pass the buck' to anyone else but accepted personal responsibility for the way the country
was governed.
I got reminded of this when I read in today’s
news papers :
“ Crypto-currencies are a Ponzi scheme , warns FinMin “
The spurt in the prices of Bitcoin and
other crypto-currencies seems to have rung an alarm bell, with the Finance
Ministry expressing concern and likening them to Ponzi schemes.
An official
statement issued on Friday cautioned against investing in them.
Noting the “phenomenal increase” in the price of virtual currencies
(VCs), including Bitcoin, in India and globally, it said,
“VCs don’t have any intrinsic value and are not backed by any kind of assets. The price
of bitcoin and other VCs... is entirely a matter of... speculation resulting in spurt and
volatility in their prices.”
“Consumers need to be extremely
cautious so as to avoid getting trapped in such Ponzi schemes,” the statement
added.
The government said
VC transactions are encrypted and are likely being used for terror-funding, smuggling, drug trafficking and money
laundering.
The government, however, sounded a note of caution, stating that ,
“VCs are not backed by government fiat” and are not legal
tender.
VCs are neither currencies nor coins, and
the government or the RBI
has not authorised them as a medium of exchange, it noted.
Is government so helpless that the most it can do to “ protect the consumers
“ , is to keep issuing “ Warnings
/ Caution Notices “ ?
Could it not have come out with an ORDINANCE banning Crypto-Currencies , as suggested by me
in my following email to Shri Jaitleyji ?
Is it too late , even today ?
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