Tag Archives: india

The opaque and intriguing ownership of the Indian crypto exchange WazirX continues to baffle investors and crypto honchos alike. Over the past two weeks, Binance and WazirX top executives once again came to blows over the issue. In August 2022, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhoa and WazirX CEO Nischal Shetty publicly accused each other of lying about the latter’s ownership. WazirX Threatens Binance With Legal Action In the latest, WazirX described the allegations made by Binance’s...

The world’s leading crypto exchange has given an ultimatum to the operator of WazirX to withdraw all customer funds stored on Binance’s infrastructure and wallets. This comes as Zanmai has supposedly refused to retract a previous “false public statement” against Binance. The spat between the two crypto trading platforms began last year when the Indian government went after WazirX, raided offices belonging to Zanmai (the exchange’s operator), and froze over $8 million in...

In a significant development that indicates that the Indian government may not fully chime with the central bank’s overly hostile stance against cryptocurrencies, a junior minister explained that such activities are fine as long as they follow existing laws.  This is in sharp contrast to the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) ban on crypto in 2018 and not fully opening up to the sector even when the Supreme Court scrapped the RBI order in 2022, calling it illegal.   Crypto Is...

While Indian crypto exchanges lost a significant portion of their trading volume after new taxes for the sector came into force, the losses, so far, were referred to in percentage terms, with most estimates quoting them to be above 90%, compared to the previous year. Now, a new study has quantified the value of cumulative trading that shifted from Indian to foreign crypto exchanges after the new taxes kicked in. CryptoPotato reported earlier that Indian traders are flocking...

A junior finance minister told the Indian parliament on Tuesday that the government has collected about $7.4 million in TDS on crypto transfers since July 1.  Given the low numbers, the government may consider the local crypto industry’s demand to reduce the tax to a reasonable level – in the range of 0.01% to 0.05%. Low TDS Collection In a written reply in the upper house of the Indian Parliament, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary informed that the Indian...

A prominent Indian cryptocurrency trade body – Bharat Web3 Association (BWA) – has red-flagged the high taxes and regulatory uncertainty in its draft of concerns and recommendations submitted to the Indian Finance Ministry, which is holding consultations in the run-up to the budget for 2023-24. A meeting between the BWA representatives and the Indian finance ministry officials, particularly with officials of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), is expected to take place...

The initial excitement among Indian bankers over the launch of a central bank-sponsored digital rupee seems to be fizzling out. They find it adding to their paper and accounting work without bringing any significant benefits over the existing procedures. Bankers point out that the real benefit of e-rupee may be in the retail and consumer sectors. Bankers Not Enthused It has been one month since the launch of the e-rupee for the wholesale segment, but bankers don’t seem to be...

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has unveiled its new pilot program that will see various consumers testing out the latest version of its digital rupee. A CBDC (central bank digital currency), the digital rupee is slated to be used for purchases of goods and items amongst everyday residents. The RBI Is Boosting the Use of Its Digital Rupee Pratik Gauri – co-founder and CEO of 5ire, a blockchain company – explained in a recent interview: I believe blockchain and decentralization are necessary...

India’s largest and most advanced government-run hospital, more popularly known by its acronym AIIMS (The All India Institute of Medical Sciences), suffered a hack of its servers on November 23.  Even as they remained out of order for the sixth consecutive day, a new twist emerged in the ongoing multi-agency investigation and restoration effort.  A leading news agency on Monday claimed that Rs 200 million ($25 million) in ransom has been asked by the attackers to restore...

The quick downfall of FTX with an $8-10 billion deficit in its balance sheet has left the broader cryptocurrency market reeling under its cascading effects. Besides Proof of Reserves (PoR) and Reserves to Liability (R2L) Ratio data, Indian crypto exchanges, battling low volume caused by high taxation and an unfriendly regulatory environment, have responded to the evolving situation with some fresh initiatives. Polygon CEO’s Self-Custody Buzz Polygon CEO Sandeep Nailwal was...