Bitcoin is Digital Black Money… Is Fake news being promoted by Cogencis?

In the last few days, Economic Times has been carrying on a campaign for legalization of Bitcoin. The article “U-turn on bitcoin? Government panel may allow cryptos with riders ” which does not carry the name of the reporter suggests,

“A panel formed by the government to look into crypto-currency does not seem to be in favour of banning it. Instead, it may suggest allowing crypto-currency with riders, ETNow reported quoting Cogencis. “

It is not clear why ETnow is spreading this news which could be a fake news planted by some interested Bitcoin holders.

ET bases its story on “Cogencis” which is a company co founded by one Mr Kalyanram Kodakalla having directors such as Paurush Roy, Vimal Agarwal, and Deepak Ghaisas. The company professes to be a “Trusted” global provider of Financial Data and Analytics. It has offices in Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, New Delhi  etc. (Refer www.cogencis.com)

I would like to request Cogencis to disclose what was the source of their information which should have been from the Ministry of Finance.

To an ordinary observer, it appears to be a Fake News planted for promoting the Bitcoins. It is unfortunate that Economic Times is trying to legitimize this fake news.

I request the Government of India to conduct an enquiry into how this news has been manufactured. In case there is any involvement of the officials of the Finance Ministry, they should be punished.

Let us remember that Bitcoin is Digital Black Money and the people who are supporting it include those who converted their black money during the demonetization time into Bitcoins. Additionally there are criminals and terrorists who have built up Bitcoin wealth and want a legitimate channel to bring it into the legacy currency system so that they can destabilize the economic progress of India.

There is no way any official who is himself not corrupt to support any move to legitimize Bitcoin. RBI has been opposing this move though it appears that  some of the officials in the Arun Jaitely Ministry are in favour.

It is now left for Mr Modi and Mr Amit Shah to show their commitment to Black money eradication by sticking on to the policy of  “Banning of Bitcoin”.

Let us hope that even if Ministry of Finance has been corrupted, PMO still remains uncorrupted. The proof of the pudding would be how Mr Mr Modi will react to the news doing the rounds now.

If Mr Arun Jaitely is honest, he should clarify if the news report is correct or is fake.

Naavi

About Vijayashankar Na

Naavi is a veteran Cyber Law specialist in India and is presently working from Bangalore as an Information Assurance Consultant. Pioneered concepts such as ITA 2008 compliance, Naavi is also the founder of Cyber Law College, a virtual Cyber Law Education institution. He now has been focusing on the projects such as Secure Digital India and Cyber Insurance
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1 Response to Bitcoin is Digital Black Money… Is Fake news being promoted by Cogencis?

  1. Rizal says:

    Hello. I have many things to say. I shall build my premise from the following sentence: There is a difference between facts and opinions. Having said that. Capitalizing words in the Middle Of The Sentence is Poor Writing and doesn’t make an Opinion a Fact. For illustration, I shall quote you from this article, ‘Bitcoin is Digital Black Money’. There is no substantial evidence in your article, to the extent that the use of the word substantial in this sentence is now redundant. I don’t even want to get into what comes next as it is subjective conjecture based again on opinions. I admit opinions can have factual information but this article is devoid of this crucial element that is so important to be constructive. Your article is not a critique but an attack which seems impulsive and childish. The power of the internet allows us all to express ourselves but it is sad when people use it to claim they are making a responsible cyber society since 1998 and then make the dialogue insubstantial with opinions. I concede that black money can be used to buy Bitcoins but it can also be used to buy anything else, literally, what about that? So we shall ignore the benefits of cryptocurrencies because black money can buy it. That logic is destructive and self collapsing like a dying star. It is hilarious that you talk about promoting Bitcoin as its value fell drastically and continues to do so. I shall add a fact to this article of yours. There is a finite amount of Bitcoin in the world. Having said that, which is why in the long run its value will always be higher than when you buy it. There is volatility in current value of it but as time passes it will increase. Furthermore, crypotocurrencies offer their users better transaction security in a world of online privacy concerns.

    Moving on to more salicious things you say such as terrorists, criminals, black money, destabilize, etc. Again without proof. Those things affect everything now but your use of them especially in the context you use them is not to have a conversation or dialogue but to instigate and strike fear. This allows me to base my doubts about your intentions as they seemed to be a commodity that someone has bought for a handsome price. If you want an inquiry as to how the Cogenics article came to be. Could you then contribute to your call for transparency and at least explain your motivations for writing this article that is in bad taste and form? Or did you do it just because you can? Did someone pay you to wrote it, one can wonder? Again, shun something good because there is one thing bad about it without weighing them against each other?

    The world economy embraces cryptocurrencies as they allow transparency and vigilance, you consider puttting in your two cents to exclude and isolate the Indian economy from economic growth and prosperity that would allow the people in the lower socioeconomic zones to benefit from as there we see increased accessibility to the internet in rural India. Cryptocurrencies would allow them to avoid banks. The same banks that have failed them for generations. Also, Bitcoin is just one out of hundreds of cryptocurrencies that will be in India so let that sink in.

    If we all think about it, you could be the spreader of terror here as you are instigating fear through your privilege of having a voice Mr. Na. The Cogenics article may be speculative but it isn’t making claims as facts whereas you are. It is an article about the speculative world of finances. As you yourself quote them in your article ‘Instead, it may suggest allowing crypto-currency with riders’, the use of ‘may suggest’ is crucial here as it suggests an opinion not an actual report leaked by the Ministry of Finance. You insinuiated that. Before that, it says ‘the panel does not seem to be in favour of banning it’. Again, just speculation. I am sorry to say that your claims are from the misunderstanding of the English language rather from anything else. Speculating on a speculative article is pointless and something the rapper Xzibit would do out of habit if he had the chance.

    Can we have factual discussions rather than polarizing verbal surgical strikes?

    Please. Next time use sources to back your claims. I expect better from you. In an age of misinformation, it is our duty to spread the truth.

    Thank you,

    Sincerely,

    An avid reader.

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