SEBI said later phases of Demat 2.0 will introduce secondary trading and open the tokenized bonds to retail investors. India’s securities regulator and central bank have launched a tokenized corporate bond pilot, with three companies issuing a combined 10.25 billion rupees (about $107 million) through the new market infrastructure. On Thursday, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) said Demat 2.0 allows corporate bonds to be issued and held as digital tokens on a distributed ledger owned by the country’s statutory depositories. The system connects to the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) through its Unified Market Interface. The first issuance came from public-sector lender REC, which raised 5 billion rupees from 18 investors on Mond…
The system will combine farmer, grain, warehouse, insurance and loan data for lenders, though no launch date or initial deployment size was disclosed. Indian agricultural warehousing and lending company Arya.ag is testing a system to tokenize warehouse receipts for stored grain on a dedicated Avalanche layer-1 blockchain. Arya.ag is working with Finternet to connect grain deposits, warehouse receipts, collateral commitments and loan status through the network. Devika Mittal, Ava Labs’ head of India, told Cointelegraph that testing was underway and said each tokenized receipt would represent ownership of the stored commodity. The companies did not disclose an expected launch date or how much grain or lending the initial deployment would cover.
India plans to test tokenized corporate bonds in a September pilot, with state-controlled REC issuing the debt and select investors using wholesale CBDC payments. India reportedly plans to launch its first tokenized corporate bonds in September as part of a pilot involving blockchain-based transactions settled using a central bank digital currency (CBDC). REC Limited, a state-controlled Indian power infrastructure finance company, plans to issue less than 5 billion Indian rupees ($57 million) in tokenized bonds, Reuters reported on Monday, citing three sources with direct knowledge of the plans. The pilot will initially be open only to a select group of investors and could be unveiled at an annual financial technology event in Mumbai in September. “India’s central bank digital currency wil…
Binance has been phishing its own staff to get ahead of potential attacks. South Korean crypto volumes tank 89% — plus all of the week’s other crypto news from Asia. Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has been running simulated phishing attacks against its own employees for the past four years and can fire staff who repeatedly fail the tests, according to Binance chief security officer Jimmy Su. The fake attacks are conducted by Binance’s red team, an internal ethical hacking unit whose job is to break into systems to identify vulnerabilities. “We do phishing attacks on our own employees on a monthly basis just so we understand if our security hygiene is improving,” Su told Cointelegraph. “The ones that have failed it, we will do remediation training.”
The digital rights group says India’s order to remove Jack Dorsey’s BitChat repositories from GitHub exceeds the government’s legal authority and threatens free speech. India’s Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) has condemned a government order directing GitHub to remove repositories for Jack Dorsey’s decentralized messaging app BitChat, calling the move unconstitutional and warning it threatens free speech and open-source software. The statement came a day after India’s cybercrime agency ordered GitHub to disable access to three BitChat repositories within three hours, saying the decentralized messaging app could be used to bypass internet shutdowns, evade lawful surveillance and facilitate unlawful activities. In its statement posted on X on Friday, IFF argued the order exceeded the gover…
India’s tax department reportedly found that fewer than a quarter of the 645,000 people who made crypto transactions reported them on tax returns. India’s tax department reportedly found widespread gaps in crypto tax reporting, warning that offshore exchanges, private wallets and peer-to-peer (P2P) trades are making crypto activity harder to track. Reuters on Wednesday reported government documents showed that fewer than a quarter of 645,000 individuals who made crypto transactions in the year ending in March 2023 reported the trades on their tax returns. The department also reportedly estimated that India had about 39 million crypto traders holding over $2.1 billion in crypto at the end of May. The findings add a tax-enforcement factor to the country’s long-running digital asset policy…
Kalshi has added India to its list of 55 restricted jurisdictions, months after Indian authorities warned VPN providers to stop facilitating access to these platforms. Prediction market Kalshi has added India to its list of restricted jurisdictions, according to a members' agreement document updated on Wednesday. The document now lists a total of 55 restricted jurisdictions whose residents are blocked from accessing the platform. India's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology warned virtual private network (VPN) providers in April to stop facilitating access to “illegal and blocked online betting and prediction market platforms.”
Coinbase has switched on direct rupee bank transfers in India via IMPS, letting users move funds between local bank accounts and the exchange for spot and futures trading. Coinbase has enabled direct rupee bank rails in India, making it easier for local customers to move money between bank accounts and crypto markets on the exchange as the company deepens its push into one of the world’s fastest-growing digital asset markets. Indian users can now deposit and withdraw Indian rupees via the Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) instant payments network and access spot markets, perpetual futures and the company’s Advanced Trade interface through a single platform, according to a company blog post published Sunday. The move marks Coinbase’s latest push to expand its presence in India since a troubl…
Investigators say the GainBitcoin case involves about 8,000 investors and losses estimated at roughly 6,606 crore rupees ($790 million). India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested Ayush Varshney, co-founder and chief technology officer of Darwin Labs Private Limited, in connection with the long-running GainBitcoin cryptocurrency fraud investigation. According to a Wednesday press release shared via the CBIs official X account, Varshney was detained at Mumbai airport on Monday while attempting to leave India after a Look Out Circular had been issued against him. He was formally arrested and handed over to the CBI on Tuesday. The CBI said Darwin Labs played a central role in building the technological infrastructure used by the alleged scheme, including the GainBitcoin invest…
India wants BRICS members to discuss linking their CBDCs for trade and tourism at a future summit, according to a Reuters report. India’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), has reportedly proposed an initiative linking BRICS central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) to facilitate cross-border trade and tourism payments. A Reuters report citing two anonymous sources claimed that the recommendation would place the idea of CBDC interoperability on the agenda for the 2026 BRICS summit, which India is scheduled to host. Reuters reported that the proposal, if accepted by the Indian government and BRICS partners, would be the first formal consideration of CBDCs within the bloc, which includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
Tax and other regulatory agencies in India claim that cryptocurrencies and permissionless blockchain tech undermine tax collection. India’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), a regulatory agency that sets anti-money laundering and know-your-customer regulations, issued new guidelines tightening rules for onboarding users to crypto platforms. The new rules force regulated crypto exchanges to verify users through live selfie pictures and geographic location verification, according to The Times of India. The live selfie pictures are verified with software that tracks users' eye and head movements to prevent AI deep fakes from being used to bypass the know-your-customer (KYC) verification process.
Officials told a parliamentary panel that private wallets, offshore exchanges and cross-border DeFi activity make tracking taxable crypto income difficult. Financial authorities in India have reiterated concerns over cryptocurrency transactions, warning they may complicate tax enforcement. India’s Income Tax Department (ITD), under the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), flagged major risks linked to crypto activity during a parliamentary standing committee on finance, The Times of India reported on Thursday. The warning came during a Wednesday parliamentary committee meeting involving multiple agencies, including the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), the Department of Revenue, and the CBDT, which discussed the report “A Study on Virtual Digital Assets (VDAs) and Way Forward.”
India is urging other countries to develop CBDCs, and China is expanding the use of its digital yuan, allowing banks to offer interest on e-CNY wallets. Russia’s Ministry of Justice has proposed new fines for unregistered cryptocurrency miners. This comes after the finance minister raised concerns about the rise in unauthorized mining activities. A draft bill proposed by the ministry would impose a fine of 1.5 million rubles (about $19,000) and up to two years in a labor colony. Illegal mining involving “outsized profits” could see a maximum of five years in prison, 480 hours of forced labor and a fine of up to 2.5 million rubles. Unregistered miners are a growing problem in Russia, where only 30% have registered their operations as of June 19, according to Deputy Minister of Finance Ivan…
Only three CBDCs have been successfully launched around the world so far, in Nigeria, the Bahamas and Jamaica, although many jurisdictions are considering it. The Reserve Bank of India has urged countries to focus on central bank digital currencies over privately-issued stablecoins, citing concerns about financial stability. In its December financial stability report, released on Wednesday, the RBI argued that CBDCs preserve the “singleness of money and the integrity of the financial system,” and should remain as the “ultimate settlement asset” and the “anchor for trust in money.” “The RBI, therefore, strongly advocates that countries should prioritise central bank digital currencies over privately issued stablecoins to maintain trust in money, preserve financial stability and design next…
India’s government is considering adopting a stablecoin regulatory framework while the Reserve Bank of India urges a "cautious" approach. The government of India may consider stablecoin regulations in its Economic Survey 2025-2026, while the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) takes a “cautious” approach to crypto and pushes for a central bank digital currency (CBDC), revealing a divergence in policy recommendations. The government will “present its case” for stablecoins in the annual report published by India’s Ministry of Finance, which outlines key policy recommendations and the state of the economy, business publication MoneyControl reported, citing an official familiar with the matter. However, the central bank continues to urge a “cautious” approach to stablecoins, according to RBI Governor…
A landmark ruling granting XRP property status in India strengthens investor rights and boosts confidence in digital asset ownership. The case began when Rhutikumari, an XRP (XRP) holder, filed a petition against WazirX after the exchange froze her account containing 3,532.30 XRP worth approximately $9,400. The dispute stemmed from WazirX’s response to a July 2024 hack that led to the theft of about $235 million in assets. To manage the losses, WazirX proposed a controversial “socialization of losses” plan, which would distribute the financial impact proportionally across all user accounts. Rhutikumari challenged the plan, arguing that it infringed on her ownership rights.
India doesn’t “encourage or discourage” crypto, it “only taxes it,” Minister Piyush Goyal said, while unveiling a new RBI-backed digital currency project. The Indian government expressed renewed skepticism toward cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin as it prepared to launch new digital currency initiatives backed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). India will soon launch an RBI-backed digital currency, India’s Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said in a roundtable during his visit to Qatar, local news agency The Hindu reported on Tuesday. In a separate development, the RBI plans to launch a pilot on deposit tokenization on Wednesday, RBI’s chief general manager of the fintech department, Suvendu Pati, reportedly said.
India is reportedly delaying comprehensive crypto regulation as its central bank warns rules could legitimize digital assets and create systemic risks. Indian regulators are reportedly holding back from introducing comprehensive crypto rules over concerns that regulation could legitimize digital assets and create systemic risks. According to a Wednesday Reuters report citing documents the outlet’s reporters viewed, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) maintains the view that containing the risks posed by cryptocurrencies through regulation would be challenging. The document reportedly states that regulating cryptocurrencies would legitimize them and “cause the sector to become systemic.” An outright ban on cryptocurrencies, the document continued, would address the alarming risks of speculative…
What is India’s levy crypto tax, and how does it apply across various types of transactions, such as trading, selling or spending your crypto? For the financial year 2024-2025, Indian tax law treats cryptocurrencies as virtual digital assets (VDAs) under the Income Tax Act, 1961. Section 2(47A) spells out what that means: Any code, number, token or piece of information created through cryptography counts as a VDA. The only exception is money itself — Indian rupees or any other country’s fiat currency. VDAs include cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), as well as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and similar digital tokens. While it is legal to buy, sell and hold VDAs, they are not recognized as valid payment methods.
Major Asian economies step on the stablecoin throttle, India’s reconsiders punitive crypto tax, and more. Major Asian economies are accelerating their stablecoin initiatives, with notable moves from Japan and China over the past week. Japans top financial regulator is reportedly preparing to approve the countrys first yen-pegged stablecoin within the year. The token, issued by fintech startup JPYC, will be backed by liquid assets such as government bonds. According to finance outlet Nikkei, JPYC is expected to register as a money-transfer business this month and aims to issue 1 trillion yen (about $6.81 billion) worth of stablecoins over the next three years.
