The High Court of Karnataka has quashed criminal proceedings initiated against two founders of city-based Unocoin Technologies Pvt. Ltd., one of the leading companies in India dealing with Bitcoin, a cryptocurrency.
The order was passed on petitions filed by Sathvik Vishwanath, co-founder and CEO, and B.V. Harish, co-founder and Chief Financial and Compliance Officer of the company.
The police in October 2018 had registered the case and seized the company’s first cryptocurrency ATM launched at a mall in the city on charges that the activities of the company was illegal as the RBI had in 2018 prohibited banks and entities regulated by it from providing services in relation to virtual currencies.
As the apex court in 2020 had quashed the RBI’s circular banning cryptocurrencies, HC said criminal proceedings initiated on the strength of RBI’s circular could not be continued now as the apex court had quashed the circular itself.
