The governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Shaktikanta Das, did not mince his words when discussing the crypto sector at a recent conference, asserting that “private” crypto will be behind the next financial crisis. Speaking at the Business Standard BFSI Insight Summit on Dec. 21, Das suggested that private crypto — those which are not issued by banks or governments — are backed by nothing and are purely tools for speculation. "They have no underlying value. They have huge inherent risks for our macro economic and financial stability. I am yet to hear any credible argument about what …

The state of New York became the first one in the United States to impose a moratorium on proof-of-work (PoW) mining, albeit only for two years. Last week, New York governor Kathy Hochul signed the moratorium into a bill, prohibiting any new mining operations that aren’t based on 100% renewable energy. The renewal of licenses would also be frozen. In eight months, the anti-mining bill made its way from the first passing through the state Assembly to the governor’s pen. The statewide development seems unlucky for New York City mayor Eric Adams, who is focused on making the city a …

Having tested the wholesale usage of its central bank digital currency (CBDC), the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is preparing to conduct the retail pilot of the “digital rupee.” The pilot should launch within a month. According to the Economic Times of India, the RBI is in the final stage of preparing the rollout of the retail digital rupee pilot. Among the participants are the State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, ICICI Bank, Union Bank of India, HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Yes Bank, and IDFC First Bank. Reportedly, at some point, the pilot is going to include all …

India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said she would love to show that the country is “moving speedily forward” with digital financial technology as it prepares to assume the presidency of the G20. Speaking at the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations on Nov. 1, Sitharaman said the people of India have taken to digital technology “as fish to water.” The finance minister added that crypto asset regulation would likely be one of India’s priorities in its leadership of the G20, but needed the support of other members. According to Sitharaman, India needed to work with organizations including the …

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is on track to debut the central bank digital currency (CBDC) after announcing the digital rupee project in February this year. The central bank of India will launch the digital rupee pilot for the wholesale segment on Nov. 1, the RBI reportedly announced on Monday. The pilot will involve nine locally operating banks, including the biggest Indian bank, the State Bank of India. According to a report by Reuters, other banks in the pilot will also include Bank of Baroda, Union Bank of India, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Yes Bank, IDFC …

The global Web3 boom is expected to add $1.1 trillion to the Indian economy over the next decade, supporting the investment-based momentum driven by over 450 in-house startups, including CoinDCX, Polygon and CoinSwitch. A recent study from the National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM), an Indian non-governmental trade association and advocacy group, highlighted India’s position as a leading global player in the Web3 market owing to several factors spanning a large talent pool, high adoption rate and product development for international markets. The US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) estimated that “Web3 can add $1.1 trillion of new economic …

Consumers in India are getting more options for a digital shopping experience as major local e-commerce platforms increasingly experiment with blockchain and metaverse. Indian shoppers can try out products from brands like Puma and Nivea in the gamified, interactive metaverse. That is thanks to local e-commerce giant Flipkart launching a metaverse space for consumers to discover products in a photorealistic virtual destination and shop. Flipkart officially announced the launch of Flipverse on Oct. 17, aiming to bridge the best of the online and offline shopping experience. Developed in collaboration with Polygon-incubated organization eDAO, Flipverse allows shoppers to create a metaverse …

According to a new study published by the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM), a non-profit organization in India with over 3,000 members, the country currently possesses 11% of the world's Web 3.0 talent. The figure makes India the world's third largest regarding its Web 3.0 workforce, employing nearly 75,000 blockchain professionals today. Furthermore, the industry group expects the talent pool to grow by over 120% within the next two years. India is also home to 450 Web 3.0 startups, four of which are unicorn companies. Through April 2022, the Indian Web 3.0 ecosystem has raised $1.3 billion …

The International Criminal Police Organization is reportedly planning to strengthen its crackdown on cryptocurrency-related crimes by forming a dedicated division. Interpol, the world’s largest global police organization, has set up a special team in Singapore to help governments fight crimes involving virtual assets, the Indian news agency Business Standard reported on Oct. 17. Interpol made the announcement at a press conference ahead of its 90th general assembly in Delhi, which is to be attended by high-profile police officials from its 195 members from Oct. 18 until Oct. 21. According to Interpol secretary general Jürgen Stock, the absence of a legal …

The finance minister of India, Nirmala Sitharaman, revealed India’s plan to develop standard operating procedures (SOPs) for cryptocurrencies during its G20 presidency, from Dec. 1, 2022, to Nov. 30, 2023. Sitharaman has previously called for global collaboration to decide on crypto's future and has been cautious against mainstream crypto adoption citing risks to financial stability. However, speaking to local Indian reporters on Oct. 15, she confirmed, "That (crypto) will also be part of India's thing (agenda during G20 presidency)." The G20, or Group of Twenty, is a global forum for addressing the major issues related to the global economy. According …

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has outlined proposed features and reasoning behind its in-development central bank digital currency (CBDC) in a 51-page note published on Oct. 7. The country’s central bank is looking to raise awareness of CBDCs, which are being developed by a number of central banks around the world, and to clearly define the objectives and choices as well as potential positive and negative elements of introducing a digital rupee in India. The document summarizes the key motivations for the issuance of an Indian CBDC, highlighting trust, safety, liquidity as well as settlement finality and integrity as …

Despite ranking as one of the highest adopters of cryptocurrency among emerging markets, the majority of the Indian market is yet to embrace nonfungible tokens (NFTs). In an interview with Cointelegraph, Totality Corp Founder and CEO Anshul Rustaggi explained that social and cultural barriers, as well as anti-crypto regulations, are holding back NFTs from mass adoption — particularly in some of the lower-tier cities in the country. India has a population of 1.38 billion people and is the second-most populous country in the world sitting just behind China. Last month, the United Nations forecast the country to overtake its competitor …