Following the Supreme Court’s reversal of the Reserve Bank of India’s ban on financial institutions providing banking services to crypto firms, the country’s digital asset exchanges are seeking clarity on their taxation obligations. On May 4, India Times reported that several of India’s crypto exchanges collectively penned a letter to the RBI claiming that the current absence of regulatory clarity has led to banks continuing to deny services to exchanges dealing with crypto assets. The report notes that the exchanges have also reached out to India’s high court regarding the matter. Indian crypto exchanges want GST clarification In particular, the …

Among industry participants and investors, India is emerging as a market to watch for following the overturn of a crypto ban that was placed by the Reserve Bank of India back in April 2018. The prominent investors looking to get a piece of India’s nascent crypto space include Tim Draper, a billionaire investor who obtained thousands of Bitcoin from 2014’s Silk Road auction. Draper recently said that he has “met several Bitcoin and crypto startups” from India and that he “hopes to be able to fund a number of them.” He also recently showed his excitement for the move by …

Billionaire investor and the winner of thousands of Bitcoins (BTC) in the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s 2014 Silk Road auctions, Tim Draper, has set his sights on India’s nascent cryptocurrency industry. On March 22, the venture capitalist tweeted that the Supreme Court’s recent reversal of the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) ban on banks providing financial services to crypto companies will drive a renaissance for the country’s cryptocurrency sector. In a March 21 interview with Inc42, Draper stated that he “met several Bitcoin and crypto startups” during a recent trip to India, adding that he “hope[s] to be able to …

The Indian Crypto Bulls Roadshow describes itself as a not-for-profit initiative that seeks to educate Indian citizens as to the emerging blockchain and cryptocurrency sectors. The roadshow was originally scheduled to visit eight major Indian cities over 20 days — New Delhi, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Surat, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, and Bangalore. However, following India’s Supreme Court ruling that the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) ban on banks providing services to companies operating with crypto was unconstitutional, the roadshow has scheduled seven additional cities to host the event — Chennai, Visakhapatnam, Bhubaneswar, Kolkata, Patna, and Kanpur. To plan for the additional locations, …

A pending bill may still inhibit cryptocurrencies from flourishing in India, with India’s parliament yet to rule on the "Banning of Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill" from 2019, Business Insider reported on March 7. If passed, the bill will introduce unique regulatory frameworks for virtual currencies, utility tokens, and commodity-backed tokens — likely creating a complex exclusionary legislative apparatus for blockchain businesses to navigate. Supreme Court repeals Reserve Bank of India’s crypto ban On March 4, India’s crypto community rejoiced as India’s Supreme Court ruled that the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) ban was “disproportionate and unconstitutional. …

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is planning to file a petition against the recent landmark judgment made by the Supreme Court that nullified the controversial banking ban it imposed on companies transacting in cryptocurrencies. According to a report by The Economic Times on March 6, the RBI is worried that the court’s decision could lead to cryptocurrency trading and put the banking system at risk. Challenging the Supreme Court’s decision As Cointelegraph reported, on March 4 the Supreme Court nullified the RBI’s blanket ban on banks dealing with crypto businesses. The central bank had initially enforced the ban in …

A draft of India’s national strategy on blockchain and distributed ledger technology suggests a central bank digital currency (CBDC), the digital Indian rupee, and a national blockchain. The National Institute for Smart Governance (NISG), a non-profit public body incorporated by the government of India, has published a draft document on the country’s national blockchain strategy. Issued on Dec. 30, the document appears to have been published recently as major local publications such as The Economic Times of India reported on the draft strategy on Jan. 28. Digital rupee should be issued on a national blockchain of India In the document, …

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi awarded young entrepreneur Harshita Arora, the developer of a cryptocurrency price tracking application, amid an ongoing battle in her home country over the status of cryptocurrency. In a tweet on Jan. 24, Modi said that Arora’s “passion towards science, technology and human welfare are clearly visible.” She received the Bal Shakti Puraskar 2020: an award recognizing youth’s contributions in the fields of social service, innovation, bravery, sports, art and culture and scholastics. Arora was born on Oct. 2, 2001, and “created an app to safeguard investors from scammers,” according to Modi’s tweet. Her app, Crypto …

In April 2018, the Reserve Bank of India, the country’s central bank, initiated a major crackdown on the trade and purchase of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin within its borders. RBI Deputy Governor Bibhu Kanungo declared that all RBI-regulated entities are to “stop having business relationships with entities dealing with virtual currencies forthwith and unwind the existing relationships in a period of three months time.” This set a series of events in motion that would disrupt the blossoming crypto ecosystem in India. Crypto exchanges shut down due to regulatory pressure and crypto entrepreneurs were arrested. Despite this, in less than 18 …

The Supreme Court of India has postponed a hearing that would consider the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) ban on providing services to cryptocurrency-related business. In an Oct. 16 session on the ban that prohibits banks and financial institutions from providing digital currency-related services, the court shifted the date of the next hearing to Nov. 12. The date was further extended to Nov. 19 due to national holidays in India, which fall on the date initially set. RBI criticized In late August, the Supreme Court slammed the country’s central bank over its handling of the cryptocurrency business ban and ordered …

India’s Supreme Court has slammed the country’s central bank over its handling of a cryptocurrency business ban and ordered it to address complaints. Judge: RBI has not properly responded to representation In the latest session of an ongoing hearing into the actions of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Aug. 21, the court ruled that officials had not appropriately responded to concerns from the cryptocurrency industry over its actions. The RBI forbade banks from servicing crypto operators such as exchanges in July 2018 — effectively stopping such platforms from continuing to operate in India. On Wednesday, the move came …

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is developing a blockchain platform for banking in its R&D branch, according to a report by BusinessLine on June 28 The blockchain platform will reportedly host a number of blockchain applications, and is slated to launch next year. This model platform is reportedly being designed to serve banks; according to the director of The Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology, RBI’s R&D branch, the platform is “for blockchain applications for the government in banking.” While RBI appears to be moving into the blockchain industry, it has historically not been keen on cryptocurrencies. …