The state of crypto is still a mixed bag in India, the world’s second-most populous country. While the current year’s financial budget included 30% taxation on crypto assets as well as 1% TDS on each transaction, there is no official status on whether one is allowed to trade or use crypto assets or not. However, it looks like the government of India is closer to finishing a crypto consultation paper.
Ajay Seth, Secretary of the Finance Ministry’s Department of Economic Affairs said:
“Our consultation paper is fairly ready. We have gone through a deep dive consulting with not just the domestic and institutional stakeholders but also organizations like IMF and World Bank. We hope that we will soon be in a position to finalize our consultation paper. Simultaneously we are also beginning our work for some sort of a global regulation (to determine) what role India can play.”
However, there is still no information whether the consultation paper will affect the country’s crypto legislation. Moreover, Ajay stated that without global consensus, countries cannot prohibit cryptocurrency even if they want to. In his words:
“Whatever we do, even if we go to the extreme form, the countries that have chosen to prohibit, they can’t succeed unless there is a global consensus”. He believes that participation of all countries and a broad framework can lead to the banning of cryptocurrencies.
Amidst all this, India’s crypto industry has taken quite a blow from a series of events. Following with the abovementioned crypto taxations, the country also witnessed a rough launch of Coinbase crypto exchange. All this has led to a sizeable dip in trading volumes as well as payment processors.
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