On July 11, fraudsters hacked into digital payment platform Cashaa’s over-the-counter desk, which serves Indian customers, and stole 336 Bitcoin (BTC), worth approximately $3.1million. Although Cashaa stated that there have been no users affected by this hack, they did put a hard stop on all crypto-related transactions for 24 hours to understand the incident better. Cashaa is a United Kingdom-based crypto-friendly bank that deals with Bitcoin OTC operations and works with major traditional and crypto exchanges in India. According to an official statement, the incident took place with an OTC transaction manager based in East Delhi, India, whose personal computer …

Every Friday, Law Decoded delivers analysis on the week’s critical stories in the realms of policy, regulation and law. Editor’s note New developments in crypto this week are challenging a number of critical boundaries of legal authority. We are, consequently, looking at several cases that promise to set new lines for government reach and overreach. Cassius lamented Caesar bestriding the narrow world like a colossus. While nothing on the docket today is going to be as dramatic as the death of the Roman Republic, we did actually see a pretty eerie yet oddly comical dress rehearsal for bad actors masquerading …

During a webinar on July 17, the former Finance Secretary of India, Subhash Chandra Garg, discussed cryptocurrencies with Indian industry leaders including Nischal Shetty, the CEO of Indian crypto exchange WazirX, and Siddharth Sogani, the founder of blockchain research company Crebaco. In 2019, Garg along with his secretariat drafted a bill that proposed a ban on cryptocurrencies along with a 10-year jail term and a fine of up to 25 crore rupees (~$3.3 million) for anyone who issued, used or held these assets. Opening a dialogue with the industry Today was the first time Garg discussed the issue with members …

U.K.-based cryptocurrency exchange Cashaa reported that hackers stole more than 336 Bitcoin (BTC). The company has ceased all the crypto-related transactions, however, users were reportedly not affected by this hack. The company suspects that the hackers are based in east Delhi, India. The company claims it has filed a cybercrime incident report to the Delhi crime bureau with acknowledgment number 20807200031555 under the cryptocurrency crime category. Cashaa suspects a piece of malware was installed onto the system that facilitated exchange transfers, such as user withdrawals. The malware notified the hacker when an employee logged into the account on July 10 …

Blockchain scalability solution, Matic, released news of a “Large Scale Developer Initiatives” program on July 8. The program is meant to incentivize mainnet adoption, in partnership with Gitcoin. According to the announcement, the company aims to cater to DApp developers from project inception to fully-fledged and operational stages. They also want to create an ecosystem of developers and DApps to build on the Matic Network. Campaigns include a Build-n-Earn feature, which aims to provide a monthly recurring incentive to bootstrap developers’ teams, and the Matic Layer 2 Security Hackathon. This hackathon expects to attract protocol developers who can improve the …

One of India’s largest farm producer organizations (FPO), Sahyadri Farmers Producer Co, is integrating blockchain into its business process. FPOs are member-based institutions of farmers that are the result of a government-led initiative. The organizations help fars sell agricultural produce at the most advantageous prices. Local news outlet The Hindu Business Line reported that Sahyadri will use blockchain for its supply chains to increase efficiency and transparency in the traceability of food products. A win-win for customers and farmers The founder of Sahyadri, Vivek Shinde, said that in the present scenario, farmers get only 25% of the final price of …

India’s crypto developers have begun to release new mobile apps, following a positive ruling by the nation’s Supreme Court with regard to blockchain technology. The Court’s decision reversed laws that previously prohibited banks from providing services to crypto traders and businesses. A growing interest in the Indian crypto market B21, a digital asset investment company, recently launched their own Blockchain investment portfolio app in light of these changes. They claimed that the Supreme Court of India's announcement "has led to renewed interest in digital asset investing and a spike in exchange trading volumes" in the country. Speaking with Cointelegraph, Nitin …

News about the Indian Ministry of Finance circulating a “note” for inter-ministerial consultations of cryptocurrency regulations spurred panic within the Indian crypto community. Worries about the 2019 draft bill proposing a blanket ban of cryptocurrencies and possible 10 years sentences for crypto users had kicked in once again. In an interview with Cointelegraph, Ashish Singhal, the founder and CEO of Indian cryptocurrency exchange CoinSwitch, said that the chances of the government placing a blanket ban on digital currencies has reduced considerably as compared to 2019. Singhal said that in 2019, when the draft bill was proposed, the possibility of a …

The repeal of a blanket ban on cryptocurrencies in March by India’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India, has been a boon to the thriving crypto industry in India — with the launch of new exchanges being a catalyst. This is despite the country being one of the most severely affected nations by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has led to a deepening economic crisis across the nation. For investors and fintech innovators alike, cryptocurrency and blockchain technology have proven to be a much-needed respite in these challenging times. Regulatory uncertainty Repealing the blanket ban was not the ultimate solution …

Beyond rapidly changing how we create, store and transfer value, cryptocurrencies are accelerating financial inclusion in a way that traditional financial institutions have either been unwilling or unable to. Yet crypto’s possibilities go way beyond banking the unbanked. It allows developing nations and those without access to financial services to avoid the bank completely and transact and grow small businesses using just a mobile phone. Why financial inclusion is so important Even today, almost 2 billion people around the world have no access to financial services. That’s approximately one-fourth of the global population. Having nowhere to place savings and not …

American fintech firm Ripple has proposed a policy framework for regulating crypto in India amid local crypto uncertainty. In an effort to persuade Indian authorities to support fintech regulation and the growing crypto industry, Ripple issued a policy paper addressed to local legislators. India as a dominant use-case for cross-border payments and remittances Released on June 18, Ripple’s policy paper provides a number of recommendations for Indian policymakers, offering an overview of the global digital assets landscape and measures to adopt a new digital currency policy in the country. Titled “The Path Forward for Digital Assets Adoption in India,” the …

Leading cryptocurrency trading platform Binance has joined the Internet and Mobile Association of India’s (IAMAI) digital asset exchange committee. The association is the top trade body representing digital firms in India and was a key voice petitioning lawmakers about the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) ban on financial institutions providing banking services to companies operating with crypto. The ban was overturned by the Supreme Court earlier this year. Binance’s membership comes at an opportune time, with India’s Ministry of Finance moving forward with a proposal for a blanket ban on cryptocurrencies roughly one week ago. Binance expands influence in India …