Eccentric cybersecurity pioneer John McAfee has recently called for an embargo against India’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), over its decision to force banks to stop dealing with cryptocurrency-related clients earlier this year.
McAfee’s words came as he quoted as article revealing the Supreme Court of India decided to keep the ban, which was revealed earlier this year. At the time, the RBI ordered financial institutions in the country to stop helping businesses deal or settle in cryptocurrencies.
The financial institution gave commercial banks a three-month deadline to stop servicing clients dealing with cryptocurrencies, and the deadline recently ended. As covered, the country’s Supreme Court went forward with the ban supporting RBI’s decision.
Rashmi Deshpande, an Indian lawyer representing a local cryptocurrency exchange, revealed that this was a “win for the [reserve bank] and a big blow” for crypto-related businesses. Responding to the situation, McAfee stated:
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) initiated this atrocity out of fear and won through the existing centralized power structure. I'm calling for a boycott of any financial institution that does business with RBI. We must stand together and act.
Cryptocurrency exchanges in India were forced to turn to crypto-to-crypto trading, as they were left without banking partners to offer their clients the country’s fiat currency, the Indian Rupee.
Analysts and investors have since pointed out that some may now turn to peer-to-peer (P2P) business models, so as to avoid depending on any traditional financial institution. McAfee wasn’t the only one opposing the ban, as the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) has also contested the court’s decision, to no avail.
Notably McAfee has recently taken on another cause, as he launched a campaign against cryptocurrency exchange HitBTC as the company hadn’t done anything to help people “access the only free healthcare in the world.” As CryptoGlobe revealed, his campaign was likely motivated by withdrawal fees on Docademic’s MTC token.
I am asked if I exaggerated in saying .@hitbtc is liable for the death of untold people. CEO of Docademic asked Hitbtc to change their policies to benefit the poor, but it fell on deaf ears. If your not a scam call me. I am brave enough to list my number: 731 608 8837
— John McAfee (@officialmcafee) July 2, 2018
Docademic is reportedly a project that offers its users free health care services. It has been around since 2016, and according to its whitepaper uses blockchain technology to record patient data “starting with their first contact with a doctor through our DOCADEMIC APP.”