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Regulation
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong admitted in Tuesday’s earnings call that the exchange disabled the unified payments interface (UPI) in India because of the central bank’s “informal pressure.” See related article: Coinbase snafu sets the cat among the crypto pigeons in India Fast facts Armstrong’s comments come a month after Coinbase suspended its India services three […]
Monika Ghosh
Market Trends
CoinDCX Ventures has pledged Rs 100 crore (US$13 million) to early stage cryptocurrency, blockchain and Web 3.0 startups over the next 12 months, cofounder Sumit Gupta announced on Tuesday. See related article: India’s crypto shakedown be damned, CoinDCX raises $135 million Fast facts Crypto exchange CoinDCX has vouched at least US$258,000 in blockchain and Web […]
Pradipta Mukherjee
Regulation
Indian tax authorities are exploring the implementation of a 28% goods and services tax (GST) on all cryptocurrency transactions, adding to a 30% tax on profits from crypto asset trading that kicked in on April 1, according to local media reports. See related article: After crypto, India wants to come after DeFi Fast facts The […]
Monika Ghosh
Advanced Blockchain Technologies
India’s National Securities Depository Ltd. (NSDL) introduced a distributed ledger technology platform for the Debenture Covenant Monitoring system on Saturday to enhance monitoring of bonds. See related article: Indian market regulator asks depositories to use blockchain Fast facts The Debenture Covenant Monitoring system’s decentralized ledger will provide an immutable and verifiable audit trail of transactions […]
Monika Ghosh
Altcoins
Pantera Capital, a U.S. hedge fund specialized in cryptocurrency investment, has closed about 10 deals in India, including one with crypto unicorn CoinDCX, Paul Veradittakit, a partner at Pantera, told The Economic Times. See related article: Temasek leads $200M funding round in crypto firm Amber Fast facts “We plan on doing a lot more (investments) […]
Pradipta Mukherjee
Upcoming NFT Projects
Indian online travel company MakeMyTrip has launched a non-fungible-token (NFT) collection of Indian tourist destinations, becoming the first Indian travel brand to step into the NFT space. See related article: Is there a future for the NFT beyond digital art? Fast facts The NFT collection “Virtual Vacations!” aims at bringing to life “a kaleidoscopic meta-world […]
Pradipta Mukherjee
Regulation
The Indian government is exploring ways to levy additional taxes on interest earned on cryptocurrencies through decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms located outside India, according to an Economic Times report. See related article: India tax breaks crypto’s back Fast facts The government wants to impose a 20% tax deducted at source (TDS) or factory-gate levy for […]
Monika Ghosh
Regulation
The Indian Ministry of Electronics and IT has issued a new directive that requires cryptocurrency exchanges to collect and preserve a wide range of client data for five years, 60 days after the date of issuance on April 28. See related article: Indians see future in crypto, government sees revenue, FM says Fast facts “During […]
Pradipta Mukherjee
Advanced Blockchain Technologies
Flipkart, the Indian e-commerce marketplace, plans to explore Web 3.0 and metaverse use cases including non-fungible-tokens, virtual storefronts, play-to-earn and other blockchain technologies under its new initiative, Flipkart Labs, the company said. See related article: Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com offers NFTs despite state media criticisms Fast facts Flipkart Labs, based in Bengaluru, will also serve […]
Pradipta Mukherjee
Regulation
Regulating crypto will take time to ensure the government takes a considered approach, Indian finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said at Stanford University on Wednesday. See related article: Indians see future in crypto, government sees revenue, FM says Fast facts “We recognize that there is a lot of potential and already well-grounded progress made in the […]
Monika Ghosh
