Places India

Nischal Shetty, founder of WazirX, shares his story building one of the only crypto exchange left standing in a country hostile to cryptocurrency. By engineering the first auto-matching P2P engine he was able to dodge regulatory pressure that shuttered many other major exchanges in India. Nischal, tell us about your journey starting WazirX? “Nischal: I’ve been […]

This week, the inter-ministerial committee (IMC) of India officially recommended the imposition of what has been considered a blanket ban on crypto assets like bitcoin. According to Reuters, the panel led by finance secretary Subhash Chandra Garg has suggested a fine of $3.63 million and imprisonment for both individuals and businesses that engage in any […]

Eleven Indian banks have joined an initiative that may change the way small businesses obtain loans, via blockchain. The blockchain-linked loan system will focus on small and medium enterprises and aims to remove communication barriers between India’s largest banking providers. Blockchain-Linked Funding Aimed for SMEs A consortium of India’s eleven largest banks launched the first […]

The Financial Stability Board, a global inter-governmental body with over 20 member countries, has ruled that virtual currencies are not a threat to the world economy. The assessment could have an impact on India, whose central bank is part of the board. FSB Says Cryptocurrencies Won’t Affect Global Financial Stability While the crypto winter shows […]

The Reserve Bank of India has shelved its plan to launch a state-backed cryptocurrency amidst increased government pressure and concerns around money laundering. Indian Government Still Cautious About Cryptocurrencies It seems that regulatory clarity has evaded the crypto community in India, yet again. The country’s central bank announced it was looking at issuing its own […]

India’s government has continued its “undecided” stance on regulation around the cryptocurrency ecosystem. No timeline was promised by Pon Radhakrishnan, the Minister of State Finance, for enacting legislation, even in the December 28, 2018 meeting. December Passed: Still In a Limbo The Indian Government and the domestic cryptocurrency exchanges had always been at odds with […]

As countries around the world find their feet in the cryptocurrency market, governments have jumped on board in attempts to regulate the use of digital assets. Places such as Malta, Gibraltar, and Singapore have taken an open-arms approach to new crypto ventures and companies, coupled with a strict regulatory framework to help prevent fraud. India […]

Indian regulatory body the Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC) is considering measures to ban the use of private cryptocurrencies while encouraging distributed ledger technology instead, after a meeting on Thursday. Mr. SC Garg briefed FSDC Council about the progress in the Inter-disciplinary committee on Crypto "to devise an appropriate legal framework to ban use of […]

Only a week after India’s first Bitcoin ATM was launched to much fanfare, regional authorities have confiscated the two-way crypto machine and arrested the initiative’s founder, reported Times of India on Oct. 24. Bitcoin ATM Seized The Bitcoin ATM was installed by cryptocurrency exchange Unocoin in a shopping mall in the city of Bengaluru, India’s […]

The Internet Mobile Association of India (IMAI) announced Oct. 15 that it would be forming a committee to push more government involvement in the blockchain ecosystem. IAMAI Forms Committee For #Blockchain . The group will identify opportunities and challenges and work with government, industry and #startups to develop the ecosystem. https://t.co/Ciu10RV7Kf @SecretaryMEITY @FinMinIndia @PMOIndia — […]

Indian cryptocurrency exchange Unocoin is launching the country’s first digital assets ATM, even as other nations grapple with stringent regulations and a ban on banks providing services to exchanges. India’s First Crypto ATM As reported by Inc42, Unocoin CEO Sathvik Vishwanath confirmed the deal after an image of a company-branded ATM circulated the Twitter-verse. The Bengaluru-based […]

Despite an infamous crackdown on digital assets, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has created a task force to explore avenues and unique use-cases pertaining to blockchain technology, artificial intelligence and cryptocurrencies. Task Force to Regulate Burgeoning Sector The Indian Express recently reported that the RBI-led unit will supervise the burgeoning asset class and big […]

Despite continuing to maintain an unfavorable stance for cryptocurrencies and citing their potential role in money laundering, Indian government officials revealed they are looking at tokenized datasets and other cryptographic forms of blockchain technology. Open to Crypto, Closed to Currencies As reported by local outlet DNA India on August 10, 2018, Indian officials are seemingly […]

While China boasts the largest population in the world, its neighbor, India, comes a close second, totaling more than 1.35 billion people. And, if one considers that each of these nations is four times larger than, for instance, the US, which represents the world’s largest economy; then, it’s not hard to comprehend the sheer magnitude […]

In the midst of Venezuela’s ongoing economic crisis, President Nicolas Maduro has taken yet another controversial step to promote the nation’s very own blockchain-based cryptocurrency, Petro, by offering the Indian government a 30% discount on crude oil prices ‘if’ the Southeast Asian nation agrees to make the exchange via Petro tokens. What is being viewed […]

During the week, news broke of India’s changing stance on cryptocurrency with headlines from several news sources hinting at a potential Indian crypto ban, sending markets into a panicked whirlwind and causing a Bitcoin price drop to $6,600. With common sense returning as the dust settles and prices recover accordingly, a more measured dissection of […]

In a move to promote crypto education within the world’s 7th largest economy, the Dalit Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DICCI) is launching a Bitcoin mining training program which will span across 30 cities. The program has been devised in conjunction with Dr. Tausif Malik —  a respected local social entrepreneur — and will […]

The Indian government recently declared Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies illegal tender within its borders which has since seen crypto exchanges all over the country scrambling to create a plan of action. To address this issue, Indian crypto exchanges intend to develop a database of users that will become active on the network as they help […]