Users of Indian crypto exchange BuyUCoin have reportedly been affected by a breach compromising personal data of more than 325,000 people. According to a report from Indian news outlet Inc42, a hacking group by the name of ShinyHunters leaked a database containing the names, phone numbers, email addresses, tax identification numbers and bank account details of more than 325,000 BuyUCoin users. However, a later report from Bleeping Computer shows the leaked data may only contain information from 161,487 BuyUCoin members. Cybersecurity researcher Rajshekhar Rajaharia posted screenshots of the leaked data — recorded until September 2020 — to Twitter last week, …

Unicas, a joint venture between Indian online crypto banking platform Cashaa and United Multistate Credit Co-op Society, has launched a physical crypto bank branch in Jaipur, India. Back in October, Multistate announced plans to offer both online and physical crypto banking services across its 34 locations in northern India. Users will be able to access both fiat and crypto-asset services at the bank. Unicas will also provide instant digital loans with cryptocurrencies as collateral. According to a Cashaa blog post on Dec. 28, the physical crypto bank branch in Jaipur is part of an initial rollout in 14 locations across …

India’s finance ministry has called for the enactment of Bitcoin (BTC) tax laws in the country. According to the Times of India, the ministry’s Central Economic Intelligence Bureau, or CEIB, recently submitted a draft document that proposes levying an 18% goods and services tax on Bitcoin trading. CEIB figures put the estimated Bitcoin transaction volume in India at over $5.4 billion. Thus, the proposed 18% tax could see the government earning about $970 million from crypto taxation. As part of the proposed plan, the CEIB is pushing for virtual currencies to be classified as “intangible assets” to fall under the …

It has been a blazing start to a new decade, with 13% more large, uncontrolled wildfires around the world this year compared with 2019. This has spelled dire consequences for CO2 levels, which have made worse a terrible COVID-19 pandemic that has led to unprecedented worldwide lockdowns that have rapidly pushed the economy toward digitization. Related: How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected the crypto space? Experts answer As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, governments around the world have been forced to focus on integrating blockchain technology into their financial services. At the 75th anniversary of the United Nations General …

CoinDCX, a cryptocurrency exchange based in India, continues to aggressively expand its business with a massive new fundraise. According to a Dec. 21 announcement, CoinDCX has raised $13.9 million from industry investors like Coinbase and Polychain in its Series B funding round. Led by major blockchain software firm Block.one, the new raise also included Singaporean investment firm Temasek, Jump Capital, Uncorrelated Ventures, Mehta Ventures, and Alex Pack. This was CoinDCX’s third round of funding in 2020, bringing the company’s total raised amounts to $19.4 million. In March 2020, CoinDCX raised $3 million in a Series A round from firms like …

Blockchain technology in general, and smart contracts in particular, can “unlock the hidden values of legacy digital systems,” according to a report co-authored by representatives of the World Economic Forum and Chainlink. To understand how, look no further than India’s Crop Insurance Scheme. In a 40-page white paper released on Wednesday, the Geneva-based organization promotes the importance of interoperability between legacy systems and distributed ledger technologies – but only for specific use cases that are suitable for blockchains. “Once readers have already established that blockchain is desirable for their specific use case and business processes, this paper aims to spotlight …

A comprehensive survey from India’s CoinDCX exchange has found that most local investors don’t see an “easy way” to access exposure to crypto assets. That’s despite the country reversing a ban on financial institutions providing services to digital asset businesses earlier this year. According to the exchange’s findings, 56% of respondents under the age of 40 assert there is stil “no easy way to enter” the markets. This sentiment is also shared by 60% of respondents earning less than 500,000 Indian Rupees ($6,700) per year. Many segments of India’s population also cite a lack of “legal & regulatory clarity” as …

CoinDCX, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in India, is preparing its platform to support ETH 2.0 staking in anticipation of the Ethereum 2.0 launch. As the first phase of Ethereum 2.0 is expected to come online on Dec. 1, CoinDCX is now “all set” to introduce ETH 2.0 staking for the global crypto community, the exchange’s executives announced on Nov. 10. According to the announcement, CoinDCX’s smart contract-based solution will enable users to stake with 32 Ether (ETH) — the minimum amount required to participate in ETH 2.0 staking. Neeraj Khandelwal, co-founder CoinDCX told Cointelegraph that the contract will …

Cryptocurrency exchange Zebpay, which has claimed to have a user base of over 3 million in India, is now exploring broader crypto market opportunities, such as digital collectibles. With its launch of a new marketplace called Dazzle, Zebpay has chosen to expand into the nonfungible token space. NFTs are unique but tradeable blockchain assets, which can be used to represent all manner of virtual and real-world goods. NFTs are unlike cryptocurrencies in that they can carry unique metadata and vary in their degree of rarity. They are increasingly becoming popular for tokenizing markets as diverse as video game items, digital …

The people of India are awaiting access to crypto banking services, as British-based fintech firm Cashaa has collaborated with India’s United Multistate Credit Cooperative Society to launch a crypto-centric banking company called Unicas that will initially open 34 branches in Northern India and plans to have expanded to 100 branches by next year. Considering that India is largely a savings-driven economy, Unicas will also offer crypto saving accounts that pay interest on deposited crypto. This could act as a catalyst for co-operative credit societies in India to enter the market and make the most of this opportunity. But overall, the …

Indian bank United Multistate Credit Co. Operative Society is planning to expand its banking services to cryptocurrencies and cryptocurrency products. In collaboration with the crypto banking service provider Cashaa, United has established a joint venture dubbed UNICAS that aims to provide both online crypto banking services and walk-in services across its 34 physical branches in northern India. This move by United and Cashaa comes amid India’s uncertain crypto regulations. While the Supreme Court of India took down the crypto banking ban put in place by the Reserve Bank of India in March, most banks are still skeptical of providing services …

The London-based online banking platform Cashaa is planning to launch a crypto-friendly neobank — or internet bank — in India. Kuman Gaurav, the founder of Cashaa, told Cointelegraph that Cashaa India will allow Indian businesses and individuals to open a savings account with them and buy, store and save cryptocurrencies just like any other financial instrument. “For lending, we will be adding crypto assets class together with gold and real estate as collateral,” he said. Gaurav explained the need for a crypto-friendly bank in India, saying that most Indian banks are reluctant to provide banking services to the crypto users. …