The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) toughened up its stance against cryptocurrencies, citing the rising asset class as a threat to its sovereign interest and a negative impact on the banking system. The news came on the heels of Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong blaming India’s central bank for denying the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) services...Read More
Indian regulators are making the rulebook tough for celebrity endorsement of crypto products. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has advised prominent public personalities, including celebrities and sportsmen, to refrain from endorsing anything related to the digital asset industry. SEBI’s stance is based on the logic that crypto products are not regulated in...Read More
Singapore-headquartered cricket NFT platform Rario has bagged $120 million in funding led by Dream Capital. The Series A funding round also saw the participation of Alpha Wave Global. Founded in 2011, Rario’s existing investors include Animoca Brands, Presight Capital, and Kingsway Capital. “We are pleased to announce that we have raised $120M Series A Funding...Read More
A news report suggesting that India’s hostile policy towards the digital asset sector is leading to an exodus of crypto-entrepreneurs from the country has said that Nischal Shetty and Siddharth Menon, both co-founders of WazirX, have left India along with their families for Dubai. Shetty and Menon are CEO and COO at WazirX, respectively. The...Read More
Indian cryptocurrency exchange CoinDCX announced on Tuesday a $135 million Series D funding round. The company’s valuation in the new round has nearly doubled to $2.15 billion from $1.1 billion in August 2021. Co-founder and CEO of the firm Sumit Gupta announced the news on Twitter, saying he was “excited to share that CoinDCX has...Read More
India’s financial crime investigation agency Enforcement Directorate (ED) has sought the help of police in a case of bitcoin theft worth Rs. 6 crores ($790,000) by the investigators who were assisting the police in a crypto fraud case worth over $260 million. What Is the Case? As per media reports, ED officials visited the office...Read More
Two of India’s largest crypto exchanges – CoinSwitch Kuber and WazirX – have halted deposits in Indian rupees citing regulatory problems, triggering a wave of angry protests by investors on social media. It comes two days after Coinbase halted deposits in Indian rupees on Sunday, barely 3 days following its launch in India on April...Read More
A series of cyberattacks breached multiple Twitter accounts associated with the administrative and legislative bodies of India in the past few days. NFT-related content that promoted a project called “Azuki” was posted on the compromised accounts, making people speculate that the hackers were conducted by the same individuals or entities. The most recent victim came...Read More
Three days after Coinbase launched trading services in India, claiming support for the popular payment instrument Unified Payments Interface (UPI), the firm disabled the function and virtually stopped offering users the option to buy on Sunday. The Coinbase app is, however, still allowing customers to sell through IMPS (Immediate Payment Service). Coinbase launched trading services...Read More
Since the new crypto tax came into effect on April 1, Indian digital asset exchanges have witnessed a sharp fall in transaction volumes. The final days of March also saw a panic selling. Crypto Transactions Plummet in India Sharing volume graphs of four leading crypto exchanges, CoinDCX, BITBNS, ZEBPay, and WazirX, on April 3, a...Read More
On March 28, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested a person, Abdul Gafoor, one of the accused in the Morris Coin fraud case that erupted on the India crypto scene in January 2022 and still remains one of the largest such frauds in the country. ED is the economic intelligence wing of the Ministry of Finance,...Read More
The second-most populated nation will reportedly implement a regulatory framework on cryptocurrencies only after a global consensus on the matter. According to a person familiar with the matter, the Indian government does not plan a law soon to either restrict or promote dealing with digital assets. Crypto Regulation Needs Global Approach India is among the...Read More
As declared by Union Budget 2022-23, Indian cryptocurrency investors will have to pay tax under the new scheme for Taxation of Virtual Digital Assets from April 1. However, the current tax regime is expected to trigger a mass exodus of talent from the country, which faces the risk of missing out on Web 3.0 innovation,...Read More
The evasion of Goods and Services Tax (GST) by crypto exchanges was figured in the Indian Parliament on March 28. Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary informed that 11 such digital asset platforms were fined for tax evasion in 2021-22. Tax Evasion by Crypto Exchanges The total tax evasion by these companies amounted to Rs....Read More
The lack of knowledge among common investors about cryptocurrencies and how to safely invest in them is resulting in a growing number of frauds. In a recent example, the Crime Investigation Department (CID) of Ahmedabad Police in India’s Gujarat province registered a case where the victim was duped of Indian Rupees (Rs.) 22 lakh (approximately...Read More
Lack of expertise in blockchain and digital currencies is making investigations into fraud cases not only tricky but also susceptible to new scams. In one such case, the police in Indian city Pune have arrested two persons who were hired to help the probe into a crypto fraud case registered in 2018. What is the...Read More
MakeMyTrip reportedly jumped on the crypto bandwagon by releasing a limited edition non-fungible token series. The digital collectibles will feature Indian landscapes as the proceeds from the sales will promote the local tourism sector. Joining the NFT Universe According to a recent coverage by Business Today, the Indian travel organization MakeMyTrip is the latest entity...Read More
Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that she expects the central bank to roll out its digital currency this year. About the legalization of bitcoin and other digital currencies, she noted that the government is not inclined to take a position just yet. It has set in motion a consultation process, and when it ends,...Read More
The global sports NFT market will see a transaction count of over $2 billion this year, Deloitte’s Technology, Media, and Telecommunications (TMT) Predictions 2022 has said. Throwing a spotlight on the emerging Indian sports and entertainment NFT market, the TMT forecast says it will grow to $1 billion in the near future. Global Sports NFT...Read More
The Supreme Court (SC) of India recently asked the Union government to clarify its stand on the legality of cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin. Hearing a case involving 87,000 bitcoins and thousands of investors in a Multilevel Marketing (MLM) scam, a bench of the apex court asked this question to the Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati....Read More
Indian IT multinational Infosys on Thursday announced the launch of Metaverse Foundry. The new business division at the company, a global leader in digital services and IT consultancy, promises to ease and fast-track an enterprise’s ability to use emerging technologies and offer metaverse products and services. “Infosys metaverse foundry helps enterprises navigate the metaverse by...Read More
The ASCI said that the guidelines will be enforced from April 1, 2022, and advertisers must ensure that their previous ads don’t appear in the public domain without the new disclaimer. Ads Must Have a Disclaimer The local watchdog asked in the guidelines that crypto ads display a disclaimer that these “unregulated” products can be “highly...Read More
A top official at India’s central bank recently reiterated warnings to Prime Minister Modi’s government about the risks cryptocurrencies pose to the country’s financial system. This time, he compared digital assets to “Ponzi schemes”, mirroring some investors’ long-held criticisms of the asset class. Crypto Is A Ponzi, Says RBI Governor T. Rabi Sankar of the...Read More
A fortnight packed with important developments on the economic front, Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Governor of India’s central bank Shaktikanta Das told the media that there is complete harmony between the two government bodies on the cryptocurrency front. Crypto Makes Headlines in India In the budget presentation for 2022-23 on February 1, Sitharaman...Read More
Through a memo of understanding, Torus King Blockchain IFSC recently partnered with India INX to launch India’s first Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF product. This is the first Bitcoin futures ETF to premier outside of the United States. An Indian Crypto ETF As reported by The Economic Times, the ETF will launch under the International Financial...Read More
India’s crypto saga did not have any significant breakthrough this year. As the regulatory climate remained unclear, the country’s market regulator feels mutual fund houses should not come up with fund offers related to cryptocurrency assets. SEBI Not Excited About Crypto NFOs The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) chairman, Ajay Tyagi, reportedly noted...Read More
The second-most populated country is reportedly considering postponing the implementation of cryptocurrency regulations. Before putting bitcoin and the alternative coins under its scope, the Indian authorities will first seek comments from the public, a senior government official opined. It Might Not Be This Winter At the end of November, the government of India revealed plans...Read More
Bit2Me – one of the leading exchanges in Spain – announced it now supports Shiba Inu (SHIB). The company listed the popular memecoin because of the massive interest from locals. SHIB Crosses The Spanish Borders Shiba Inu saw the light of day last year but became highly popular in 2021 as the memecoin craze, propelled...Read More
CoinDCX – one of the leading cryptocurrency exchanges in India – eyes an initial public offering (IPO) in the near future. The “precise timeline” will depend on the upcoming government regulations. Following The Steps of Coinbase Neeraj Khandelwal – Co-Founder of CoinDCX – revealed the news in a recent interview with Bloomberg. He asserted that...Read More
India is looking to ban most crypto assets when it introduces a new bill to regulate the industry this coming winter. The agenda for the session lists “The Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021.” The bill also addresses the framework for the official central bank digital currency that will be issued by...Read More
