Recently, the Indian government announced measures that are quite friendly towards crypto investors.
For the first time, India is fully integrating crypto into its economic system.
India’s New Digital Rupee
Moving forward, India will introduce a digital version of the rupee. This newly announced currency is causing quite a stir in the Indian finance sector.
With this move, India has proven it is willing to engage with cutting-edge financial technology.
Though the full details of the new currency aren’t fully known, the Indian government announced that this currency will utilize blockchain.
Just like Bitcoin, the digital rupee should prove highly transparent and secure. Blockchain provides an immutable ledger that is essentially immune to tampering.
India will introduce its new digital currency as soon as the beginning of the next fiscal year.
The Indian economy has changed a lot since India’s currency reform in back in 2016.
That year, Prime Minister Modi withdrew his nation’s two largest bank notes. This produced an immediate boost for India’s digital payments sector. Although the transition was not without complications.
Indians have largely adapted to the new financial reality. More than any other nation of its size and stature, India seems on its way to becoming a cashless society.
Thanks to Modi’s currency measure, Indian company Paytm immediately became a big player in global finance. Of course, India is not the first nation to adopt a digital currency. For about two years, China has been conducting trials of its new digital yuan.
Interestingly, this is one of precisely three payment methods available to athletes at the 2002 Beijing Olympics.
Signs of a Brighter Future for Indian Crypto Enthusiasts
India’s currency announcement is bound to cause a lot of relief for Indian crypto investors. For several years, Indian regulators have voiced major concerns about the impact of unregulated crypto.
Citing concerns about money laundering, Indian officials have even floated proposals to ban private cryptocurrencies. For now, that kind of drastic move has been forestalled.
Indian Finance minister N. Sitharaman announced that cryptocurrencies would be regulated, not banned outright.
India will charge a 30 percent tax on all income gained from cryptocurrency trading. While this tax is not negligible, it will allow crypto traders to maintain considerable freedom of action. Fear of a crypto ban has heretofore limited Indian crypto trading volume.
The Indian government’s crypto announcement is likely going to help a lot of Indian software developers.
India: A Major Player in the Global Economy
In all likelihood, India’s cryptocurrency announcement will encourage other nations like Vietnam to engage with digital currency. After all, India maintains Asia’s third largest economy.
For some time now, the United States has been considering launching its own digital dollar. However, regulators worldwide have expressed concerns about the risks associated with digital currency.
Though it’s too early to say, it is certainly possible that India’s new crypto regulations will prove highly beneficial to the Indian economy. This new crypto regime represents another chance for the Modi administration to try to burnish its ailing reputation.
