June was a dramatic month for cryptocurrency – not only in terms of price fluctuations but also regulations. While we saw good tidings like the declaration of bitcoin as a legal tender in El Salvador, regulatory crackdowns in countries like China have turned the market bearish. More quietly, in India a seismic regulatory development has passed by relatively unnoticed.
The past few months have seen some positive regulatory moves by the government here. In March, the Finance Minister denied the possibility of a blanket ban “shutting off all options” and outlined the government’s plans to take a “calibrated” approach towards cryptocurrencies in the country. She went on to emphasize the need for experimentation in blockchain and cryptocurrency.
Later, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) declared it mandatory for companies to declare their crypto investments during the financial year – considered by some as a step towards regulations, even hinting towards the possibility of upcoming tax regulations. All these developments have led to a major boom in the Indian crypto industry. A recent Chainalysis report indicated that crypto investments in India this quarter have gone up 19,900% from $200 million to $40 billion.
