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As India seeks firm footing on cryptocurrency, investors await clarity

As India seeks firm footing on cryptocurrency, investors await clarity

Almost two months after the government proposed a taxation policy for income from trading in virtual digital assets (VDAs), there is still a lack of clarity on various aspects, experts said.

According to Pratik Gauri, founder of 5ireChain, a blockchain ecosystem, the wavering clarifications and piecemeal developments indicate that the government is feeling its way through the subject of crypto regulation, and with little or no precedent to go by, it is trying to find a foothold in understanding the various challenges it will face in implementation once regulations are in place.

“One thing that I’ve repeated in the past and would like to re-emphasise is that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the government are grappling with the reality that cryptocurrencies are not a fad and are here to stay,” said Gauri.
The government proposed in the Budget 2022 on February 1 that income from the transfer of any virtual digital asset be taxed at 30 percent. It said no deduction of any expenditure or allowance will be allowed while computing such income, except the cost of acquisition. It also proposed that a loss from the transfer of VDAs cannot be set off against any other income.

This week on March 21, the government clarified that losses from the transfer of virtual digital assets cannot be set off against gains from another. Neither can mining costs be treated as acquisition cost for tax deduction.

With no headway being made on a bill to regulate cryptocurrencies, it’s still not clear whether digital currencies are legal. Although investors say the tax provisions have effectively legalised crypto trading, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that taxing cryptocurrencies does not mean it has been legalised – that matter is still being considered.

Tracing VDAs

Taxation and legality issues apart, there are concerns over the enactment of certain provisions that show up in the finer details.

“From the perspective of crypto exchanges, the biggest challenge the many platforms will face is traceability of cryptocurrencies and VDAs,” said Gauri. “With the government putting the onus of this aspect on the exchanges, it’ll be a real challenge to balance innovation in the crypto world along with efforts to keep things private.”

Among the challenges in implementing the crypto tax provisions will be the monitoring of investor activity and preventing them from accessing more favourable crypto markets abroad. The crypto regulations that are in the offing and the severe tax incidence will be detrimental to the development of India’s crypto ecosystem, experts said.

“February 1, 2022, marked another day that the crypto industry and the crypto community would like to roll back,” said Raj Kapoor, founder of India Blockchain Alliance. “The community has taken strong exception to the government’s clarification on the taxation of cryptocurrencies as it is sure to have a stymieing impact. The lack of a provision to offset losses will drive away investors from KYC-compliant exchanges and will leave them literally with the devil’s alternative of accessing grey markets and offshore havens, completely defeating the very purpose of the tax.”

The proposed taxation measures will discourage retail investment in the emerging asset class because it denies them the benefit of setting off losses. Investors could cough up a heavy tax even if their trading activity suffers an overall loss.

Experts said there could be a flight of funds, restrained retail participation, and novel ways to circumvent these provisions, defeating the very purpose of taxing VDAs.

Aliasgar Merchant, developer relations engineer at Ignite, which works in the blockchain space, said the idea put forward by the government is tricky and does not take into consideration all aspects of crypto trading.

Instead of the offset regulation placing an unnecessary burden on the retail investor, a solution could be to have taxes based on exchanges and not individual VDAs, just as profit and loss are cumulatively treated for equity transactions across stock exchanges, Merchant said.

Looking for loopholes

“Another aspect totally overlooked by the Indian government is the presence of decentralised crypto exchanges as these platforms are out of the reach of government entities, making it difficult to audit and control transactions that take place through them. Such stringent laws which are heavily flawed will open doors to people looking for loopholes and may spark a move to decentralised crypto exchanges,” Merchant added.

Additionally, for those engaged in mining of VDAs, the government has clarified that all costs and investments towards equipment can’t be adjusted against any gains. Such expenses will be treated as a capital investment and only depreciation may be allowed to be claimed against them.

The measures may constrain India’s potential to develop into a global hub for crypto activity – in the way local information technology companies did – and extend use-cases of VDAs, experts said.

“While the Ministry of Finance works actively on regulating crypto, it’s crucial to understand that despite the various challenges, the industry holds immense potential,” said Raghav Gupta, founder of Equidei, which operates a decentralised finance platform.

Need for innovation

According to Gupta, it’s equally pertinent to incentivise innovation. Blockchain-based technology must be cultivated by providing developers ample space to grow so that India doesn’t miss the Web3 revolution.

Web3 refers to the next version of the internet where services run on blockchain and are decentralised.

Anndy Lian, Asia chairman of BigONE Exchange, a crypto trading platform, said it will be quite a task keeping track of VDAs.

“My question to the Indian government is: how are you going to account for each and every VDA? There are almost a few new coins every day in the market,” he said. “Assuming they bought 50 new coins each year, the effort for the investor to report tax and the regulators to monitor it would be a big issue. I urge the government to take progressive steps for crypto taxation. By doing so, you will see healthier trades and more foreign investments flowing into the country.”

All eyes will now be on the long-awaited cryptocurrency bill, although recent developments may be a reason for tempering hopes with caution.

Original Source: https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/cryptocurrency/as-india-seeks-firm-footing-on-cryptocurrency-investors-await-clarity-8273811.html

Anndy Lian is an early blockchain adopter and experienced serial entrepreneur who is known for his work in the government sector. He is a best selling book author- “NFT: From Zero to Hero” and “Blockchain Revolution 2030”.

Currently, he is appointed as the Chief Digital Advisor at Mongolia Productivity Organization, championing national digitization. Prior to his current appointments, he was the Chairman of BigONE Exchange, a global top 30 ranked crypto spot exchange and was also the Advisory Board Member for Hyundai DAC, the blockchain arm of South Korea’s largest car manufacturer Hyundai Motor Group. Lian played a pivotal role as the Blockchain Advisor for Asian Productivity Organisation (APO), an intergovernmental organization committed to improving productivity in the Asia-Pacific region.

An avid supporter of incubating start-ups, Anndy has also been a private investor for the past eight years. With a growth investment mindset, Anndy strategically demonstrates this in the companies he chooses to be involved with. He believes that what he is doing through blockchain technology currently will revolutionise and redefine traditional businesses. He also believes that the blockchain industry has to be “redecentralised”.

www.anndy.com
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Crypto community high on hopes after positive signals from India, Russia govts

Crypto community high on hopes after positive signals from India, Russia govts
My Additional comments:
1. After the initial green signals from India and Russia, what is next for Crypto Industry?
With the green lights from India and Russia, we are seeing an increase in Bitcoin’s spot volume in the last 24 hours on BigONE Exchange. The pricing of BTC has also increased by more than 2.5%. A huge country like Russia that embraces crypto is positive news for the whole world. We have seen more retail investors in the communities starting to feel comfortable and bullish. This is especially so in the meme coins’ communities. Still, I want to caution all that the bullish shift could be short term as it still appears negative in the charts for the longer term. With India and Russia taking their stand on crypto, I will do many other countries taking reference from them and following their footsteps. Some of the other countries that I am giving advice on are also more receptive after two big countries accepted cryptocurrencies.
2. Do you think that different regulations around the globe will help the industry or the world should come as one?
The world would not and should not come as one as it is not feasible for most nations. Cryptocurrencies are seen as bridges between worlds and the new regulations in place will serve as a financial connector between countries. This could also mean that cryptocurrencies would be further scrutinized, monitored and monitored. Those who see decentralisation as removing control and governance will not be happy with regulations. While those who really want crypto to grow will see the acceptance by the regulators as a sign of further disruptions.
3. What would be the key concerns of industry, post regulations?
There will be a lot of changes post regulations. We will see the real issues when the countries start to implement and allow crypto into their system fully. I hope the other countries can use Singapore’s sandbox model for instance to simulate the possible scenarios before going into full-scale implementation. There should be awareness programs in the country to tell new users what is crypto, the ups and downsides of investing in crypto and other taxations issues too. The education process will empower users to make better decisions, hence fewer headaches for the regulators.

Crypto community high on hopes after positive signals from India, Russia govts

Synopsis

Crypto industry at large is positive on the announcement and believes that the governments across the world are stepping ahead to take a big awaited call in the digital assets

After Russia’s intentions to regulate crypto, players in India and across the globe are high on hopes over the new-age asset class.

They are expecting that two major nations – India and Russia – have stepped ahead for the legitimisation of the crypto assets, and more major economies may join the forces soon.

However, India has made it clear that the legitimate or illegitimate are separate questions and the government is simply taxing the gains from the crypto transactions, which is its sovereign right.

On the other hand, the Putin government is eyeing crypto regulations, bucking the recommendation from its central bank to ban the mining and trading of the private digital tokens.

Crypto industry at large is positive on the announcement and believes that the governments across the world are stepping ahead to take a big awaited call in the digital assets.

Anndy Lian, Chairman, BigONE Exchange said that a country like Russia embracing crypto is positive news for the whole world. More retail investors in the communities are starting to feel comfortable and bullish, especially on memecoins.

“With India and Russia taking their stand on crypto, many other countries may take reference from them and follow in their footsteps,” he added.

Sathvik Vishwanath, Co-Founder and CEO, of Unocoin said that it will be a matter of time before more and more countries start looking at the crypto industry in a positive way.

The ones who had shied away from cryptos in the past are changing their perspectives and Russia is one of them, he added. “On the other side India has taken the wait and watch policy, but is not opening up with its views.”

Crypto fanatics, who see decentralisation as removing control and governance, will not be happy with regulations put across by the authorities across the globe.

Dileep Seinberg, Founder and CEO, Thinkchain said that every nation is likely to have its own cryptocurrency, with a potential to build a crypto-economy globally.

However, the industry players do not believe that the world should join the force and come as one to regulate the crypto assets uniformly. They do not see this as a viable option.

Cryptocurrencies are seen as bridges between worlds and the new regulations in place will serve as a financial connector between countries, said the experts.

The world would not and should not come as one as it is not feasible for most nations, said Lian of BigONE. “This could also mean that cryptocurrencies would be further scrutinized, monitored and monitored.”

It would be an unrealistic home for specific guidelines to be applicable for the entire world as one. At the tech level there definitely is uniformity irrespective of which country it is working in.

“The taxation, regulations, and enforcement differ which needs to be handled by the governments within the country,” said,” Vishwanath of Unocoin.

Once the regulations are out in different parts of the world, there will be a lot of changes through. However, experts said that governments, authorities and regulators should primarily focus on education and awareness about the asset class.

“We will see the real issues when the countries start to implement and allow crypto into their system fully,” Lian said. “I hope the other countries can use Singapore’s sandbox model for instance to simulate the possible scenarios before going into full-scale implementation.”

“Most important industry concerns would not come from technology but to see if few companies can monopolies like any other industry in the world,” said Sienberg. “This might damage the very fabric of the decentralised crypto world.”

Anndy Lian is an early blockchain adopter and experienced serial entrepreneur who is known for his work in the government sector. He is a best selling book author- “NFT: From Zero to Hero” and “Blockchain Revolution 2030”.

Currently, he is appointed as the Chief Digital Advisor at Mongolia Productivity Organization, championing national digitization. Prior to his current appointments, he was the Chairman of BigONE Exchange, a global top 30 ranked crypto spot exchange and was also the Advisory Board Member for Hyundai DAC, the blockchain arm of South Korea’s largest car manufacturer Hyundai Motor Group. Lian played a pivotal role as the Blockchain Advisor for Asian Productivity Organisation (APO), an intergovernmental organization committed to improving productivity in the Asia-Pacific region.

An avid supporter of incubating start-ups, Anndy has also been a private investor for the past eight years. With a growth investment mindset, Anndy strategically demonstrates this in the companies he chooses to be involved with. He believes that what he is doing through blockchain technology currently will revolutionise and redefine traditional businesses. He also believes that the blockchain industry has to be “redecentralised”.

www.anndy.com
j j j

India’s Digital Rupee Plan Draws Mixed Response from Investors

India’s Digital Rupee Plan Draws Mixed Response from Investors

India has joined a growing group of countries introducing central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).

In the Union Budget 2022-2023, the Finance Minister has announced that the country will have its digital rupee backed by the blockchain and it will begin a phased rollout of the currency this financial year.

Blockchain Assets Review spoke to industry insiders and here is what they had to say about the digital rupee and it drew a mixed response.

While industry insiders see a lot of potential in the concept, some are still doubtful of the timely implementation of such a digital currency.

Aliasgar Merchant, a developer relations engineer at blockchain firm Tendermint, said, “The introduction of ‘Digital Rupee’ or CBDC is definitely a positive move” however, it also raises “some concerns and questions.”

Merchant noted that given the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) past record on technological implementation, the timely rollout of CBDC is a “matter of concern.”

Furthermore, he said that the RBI’s centralized hold over the currency defies the purpose and applications of a decentralized currency.

Another negative impact, Merchant said, is that “we do not know what kind of data the banks will gather from the people who use them, whether there would be a limit to how much one person can withdraw or deposit if there will be different transaction limit for individuals and businesses.”

“In addition, if a fraud is uncovered after the launch of CBDC, any wrongdoings will be attributed to the RBI,” he said, adding that having such a centralized authority is always risky.

Jay Hao, chief executive of global exchange OKX, appreciated that India is joining a growing list of countries in introducing CBDCs. However, he said that the country is slightly lagging behind in the digital currency race mainly due to the regulatory hurdles and reluctance in accepting the growing popularity of digital assets around the world.

“I hope the announcement made by Finance Minister regarding CBDC is implemented without any further delay as it will give a much-needed push to the blockchain industry in India,” Hao added.

Anndy Lian, chairman of BigONE Exchange, said, “The digital rupee is not an easy task for India. India is a big economy and may need to exercise more control over its currency before adopting it to its fullest scale.”

Potential security issues can be a problem at the start and experts should look deeper into the direct and indirect costs potentially linked to the implementation, he added.

While the announcement has made experts raise questions, many still trust the future of CBDCs in the country.

Charles Tan, head of marketing at Coinstore, said: “The digital rupee launch by RBI is a very interesting development as it makes the RBI’s stance on digital assets crystal clear,” he said.

India is moving from an unregulated space to a government-monitored crypto market, which will benefit all the stakeholders of the industry, he said.

Shivam Thakral, CEO of BuyUcoin, a homegrown cryptocurrency exchange said, “RBI has always been ambitious with its CBDC launch. The launch of CBDC by RBI will catalyze the growth of blockchain infrastructure in India and will encourage more entrepreneurs to join the blockchain revolution.”

Interestingly, Thakral noted if RBI allows the trading of CBDC on private exchanges, it will add a new dimension to public-private partnership in the country’s fintech space.

“The launch of RBI’s CBDC will prove to be a momentous occasion for the digital asset industry as it will create a government-approved market for the launch of new/existing digital assets,” he added.

Nischal Shetty, founder and chief executive of crypto exchange, WazirX, is bullish and called the news a ‘phenomenal’ one and said that the country is on the path to legitimizing the crypto sector.

“India launching a blockchain-powered Digital Rupee is phenomenal news. This move will pave the way for crypto adoption and put India in the front seat of innovation,” he told Blockchain Asset Review.

Sumit Gupta, co-founder & chief executive of crypto exchange, CoinDCX, said: “Introduction of CBDC sends a clear signal of India being a digital-first, efficiency-driven, and transparency-led system. CBDC with the backbone of blockchain will help us hold a powerful position in the global economy.

“We welcome the move and congratulate the govt for this visionary move,” he added.

Pratik Gauri, founder and chief executive of the blockchain firm 5ire noted that digital currency will open up great opportunities for innovation and foreign investment.

Raj Kapoor, founder of India Blockchain Alliance and chief growth officer at Chainsense Ltd, said: “The introduction of a digital currency in the next financial year using blockchain and other supporting technology validates not just the technology but also the intent to give a big shot in the arm for the digital economy. Digital currency will also lead to a more efficient and cheaper currency management system.”

In the budget announcement, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the introduction of a central bank digital currency will give “a boost, a big boost to the digital economy,”

“Digital currency will also lead to a more efficient and cheaper currency management system,” she said.

Countries all over the world are increasingly introducing digital currencies. Jamaica has also recently announced that it will roll out its national digital token in the first quarter of the year to reduce transaction costs and offer financial services to citizens who do not otherwise use banks.

Eastern Caribbean nations including Grenada, Saint Lucia, Antigua, and others launched a digital currency in 2021 called DCash while Japan, China, and the United States are also reportedly exploring the possibility of launching CBDCs.

 

Original source: https://blockchainassetreview.com/indias-digital-rupee-plan-draws-mixed-response-from-investors/

Anndy Lian is an early blockchain adopter and experienced serial entrepreneur who is known for his work in the government sector. He is a best selling book author- “NFT: From Zero to Hero” and “Blockchain Revolution 2030”.

Currently, he is appointed as the Chief Digital Advisor at Mongolia Productivity Organization, championing national digitization. Prior to his current appointments, he was the Chairman of BigONE Exchange, a global top 30 ranked crypto spot exchange and was also the Advisory Board Member for Hyundai DAC, the blockchain arm of South Korea’s largest car manufacturer Hyundai Motor Group. Lian played a pivotal role as the Blockchain Advisor for Asian Productivity Organisation (APO), an intergovernmental organization committed to improving productivity in the Asia-Pacific region.

An avid supporter of incubating start-ups, Anndy has also been a private investor for the past eight years. With a growth investment mindset, Anndy strategically demonstrates this in the companies he chooses to be involved with. He believes that what he is doing through blockchain technology currently will revolutionise and redefine traditional businesses. He also believes that the blockchain industry has to be “redecentralised”.

www.anndy.com
j j j