Unfortunately, even though Bitcoin knows no borders there are countries where it is not permitted to use it. Some countries limit how you can use it and some are totally laissez faire about it completely.
India is a country where it is somewhat limited in how you can acquire it. For the most part, however, there are not too many laws that expressly forbid it.
The only area where you cannot acquire it is at a POS for a business. If you have a store, for example, you can’t accept that as a form of payment as it is not legal tender. Just as you wouldn’t take gold as a payment.
In this article, I will go over some of the ways you can buy and sell Bitcoin in India.
Use an exchange
There is no specific guide on how to trade Bitcoin in India as it is the same everywhere else. You’ll need to set yourself up with a digital wallet where you will store your Bitcoins. Always have a cold one as well as the one you will use on the exchange. A cold wallet is simply an offline one to keep your coins safe.
Then, on the exchange, you can buy and sell your Bitcoin. If you sell your Bitcoin there, you will need to make sure you have either a bank account linked to it or a debit card of some kind where you can deposit the fiat currency when you sell it and take it off of the platform.
Use a peer to peer platform
There are also exchanges where you are buying or selling to other people rather than in a marketplace like a regular exchange.
Many people don’t like that there is not much anonymity due to the KYC (Know Your Customer) laws in place that exchanges must adhere to.
With peer to peer you are connected to other users on the platform that are looking to buy or sell their Bitcoin. Much like a marketplace for other goods or services. Think of it like an advertisement board. People will post what they are looking for and others will respond if the offer is good for them.
If you are making an offer, then others can decide if they like the price and payment method. Not every seller or buyer is somebody you should automatically trust as different peer to peer platforms vet their users differently. Always take a look at a user’s history and tread carefully if you plan to make an exchange with a new user.
Accept payments for goods and services
This seems like a contradiction to what was said in the introduction that India forbids taking Bitcoin for payments. A store or business cannot use this as a payment method, but an individual can if they desire. In this case it is bartering rather than paying for something.
Many freelancers like to be paid for their services in Bitcoin to avoid too many fees and currency exchange rates.