By
Andy Watson
January 9th, 2024
During the World Economic Forum in Davos, Singhal also noted that the taxation changes in India, new crypto advertising guidelines, and the recent curb on celebrity endorsements are significant work to streamline the sector.
Ashish Singhal, the CEO of the largest crypto platform in India, CoinSwitch Kuber, called for more ‘peace and certainty’ in crypto regulation on Sunday. According to Singhal, it would bring more stability and protect investors.
He said:
“Users don’t know what will happen with their holdings – is the government going to ban, not ban? Regulations will bring peace … more certainty.”
During the World Economic Forum in Davos, Singhal also noted that the taxation changes in India, new crypto advertising guidelines, and the recent curb on celebrity endorsements are significant work to streamline the sector.
Singhal added:
“We are pushing for regulations. With the right regulation, we can get the clarity.”
Currently, the Indian government is deciding on imposing new crypto taxes. As we have recently reported, the Indian Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council is pondering the idea to impose a 28% Goods and Services Tax (GST) on cryptocurrency transactions being carried out in the country. This means that the council now wants to see digital currencies as lotteries, casinos, racecourses, and betting, all ventures considered high-risk assets. Besides, the Indian crypto ecosystem levied a series of taxes with the income tax pegged at 30%. This income tax law came into effect on April 1.
Notably, earlier, India’s central bank raised concerns and even advocated for a ban on cryptocurrencies. Now it seems that the country is moving toward accepting and adopting cryptos since it is considering taxation.
Crypto Regulation in India
Back in 2018, India was on the list of countries that banned crypto transactions. The Reserve Bank of India believed that cryptocurrencies pose serious threats to the nation’s macroeconomic and financial stability. However, the Supreme Court struck down the restriction in March 2020. Since then, calls for stricter rules have grown. The Indian crypto market had grown by 641% over the period from July 2020 through June 2021. As a result, there was a need for proper guidelines as an unregulated environment could draw more domestic household savings toward the volatile assets, leaving savers vulnerable to a crash.
“Data informally gathered in November seems to indicate that crypto investments by Indians is nowhere near to being significant (although the pace of growth could make it a concern in future). This data showed that four out of five investor accounts held investments of less than INR10,000, with an average holding size of INR1,566. Wealth loss, if at all it is a possibility, is likely to affect only a small fraction of these investors,” stated the RBI.
Notably, the RBI might launch India’s Digital Rupee in 2023 and be in control of it, which would then need the RBI as the sole validator of transactions.
