Cointelegraph.com has carried an article titled “ Innovation Behind Bars: the arrest of India’s first Bitcoin ‘ATM’ Operators”. It has made several comments on the arrest of the founders of Unocoin.com who owned the ATM which was installed in a mall in Bangalore.
The article is credited to one Marie Huillett, who is indicated as “an independent filmmaker, with a background in journalism and publishing. Nomadic by nature, she’s lived in five different countries this decade.” “She’s fascinated by Blockchain technologies’ potential to reshape all aspects of our lives.”..says her profile. The photograph of the author provided is a cartoon picture of a lady. It is therefore possible that even the name could be a pseudonym. After all, Bitcoin is the currency of the criminals and it is not surprising that the author not only hides her identity but also is a “Nomadic” with “cartoon” picture to show.
The article carries the same arguments which have been given earlier to justify the ATM about which we have already clarified in an article here on Naavi.org titled ” Who is lying? Unocoin Advocates? or the Press?” . In this article, it was highlighted that the spokespersons for the Bitcoin ATM owners were trying to wriggle out of the problem by saying that they were talking of a “Kiosk” but the media wrongly highlighted them as “ATMs”. Now Marie Huillet has joined the bandwagon of falsifiers and blaming the media for their “loose media reporting”.
There is enough evidence to state that the owners of the ATM wanted to project Bitcoin as an alternative “Currency” and this “ATM” as the conduit to convert INR to Bitcoin and other Crypto currencies and vice versa. Hence their arrests were justified.
The report of cointelegraph.com quotes one Mr Kashif Raza, and an advocate Mr Prashant Mali who are projected as experts who agree that there was a mistake by the Police arresting the “icons of Crypto world”.
We completely disagree with their views and support the views of the Police in arresting the owners of Unocoin and seizing the ATM.
In fact, we are unhappy that the case was not booked as a more serious crime than what it was made out to be. The threat of setting up a chain of such ATMs across the country could be treated as an act of “Cyber Terrorism” and fortunately Police did not include this section in their charge.
It may be a coincidence that soon after the arrested persons were released on bail, some body posted a comment on Naavi.org for the article “A Virtual Havala Center opens up in Bangalore…” Which many believe triggered the series of events that led to their arrests.
It was interesting to note that the comment was posted under the name “Nakoshi Sakamoto” indicating that he must be a fan of Satoshi Nakamoto. It carried unacceptable expletives that could be termed as “Defamatory” if pursued.
Just like the Cartoon author, this Nakoshi Sakamoto was also a pseudonymous character trying to extend support to the anti socials who are trying to create a Digital Black Currency regime by setting up a Bit Coin empire in India.
Naavi.org has been repeatedly stating that Bitcoin is “Digital Black Money” and a currency of the criminals. Its convertibility to other Crypto currencies and to foreign currencies mean that it is an instrument of “Havala” which is an offence under the laws of India. Obviously the supporters of Bitcoin are angry and must be trying to show their strengths by trolling or by other strong arm tactics.
The “Crypto Currency Supporters” are banking upon the Supreme Court to bail them out when they may hear an application during the next fortnight. Before that, they want to create a positive press report and hence there are a series of articles that are coming up in different pliable publications.
In that scenario, the articles of Naavi must be a thorn in their plans. While Nakoshi Sakamoto is condemning Naavi to his “Karmic doom”, I feel that they may go to the next level of causing damage to Naavi probably by cyber attacks on the site or the bank accounts of Naavi.
I therefore feel that the Police should ask for cancellation of the bail to the accused so that they donot threaten the unconventional social media like Naavi.org.
I consider that there is every possibility that the Bitcoin supporters would be charting an escape route by bribing every decision maker who is likely to have a potential influence on the Supreme Court decision.
The Bitcoin is a tool of the Criminals and the fundamental attitude of Bitcoin supporters are as “Fugitives of Law”. They have no respect for either the Police or the Government or the Courts. Hence we can expect every trick to run their Digital Black Money regime by compromising the system.
Naavi.org urges law abiding citizens to be alert and ensure that the Bitcoin does not get through the scrutiny of the law as either a “Currency” or a “Commodity” and the Havala machine does not go through either as an “ATM” or a “Kiosk”.
I urge the Police as well as the Central Government to be on guard not to let this Virtual Havala Center to raise its head once again.
In the meantime, Cyber Crime Police in Bangalore should investigate the Comment on Naavi.org dated November 2, 2018 and identify the persons behind the comment and take appropriate legal action. (See the link here)
P.S: Considering the defamatory message referred to earlier, I place on record that any further attempts to threaten or defame naavi.org or to carry out any Cyber attacks on the IT assets of Naavi would be seen with suspicion and may be attributed to the Unocoin and its supporters and this shall be taken note of by the Police.
Naavi
