what i learned from the regulator i fought
why the central bank was right. and why i still had to sue them.
we fought india's central bank all the way to the supreme court. we won.
but here's what nobody talks about: they were right on some stuff.
we were building a bitcoin exchange in a country that had zero framework for it. the regulator's job was to protect against money laundering and fraud. they got scared. they acted.
most founders would have stopped there. framed it as corruption. called the system broken.
but i met with the people who made the decision. not to negotiate. to understand. the head regulator genuinely believed this would cause financial system damage. they weren't wrong about the risk. they were wrong about the tradeoff.
the supreme court agreed: the tradeoff was worth it.
i wouldn't have won that case if i'd treated them as enemies the whole time. i went in saying: you're right that this is risky. here's why the risk is worth taking. and here's how we'll mitigate it.
founder-to-regulator conversation looks different when both people are trying to get to the truth instead of winning the argument.
the next time a regulator says no to your company, ask yourself: what are they actually afraid of? and is the fear justified—or just the response?