Web3-virtual asset community waiting for India’s clarity on crypto, virtual assets

Singapore, Sep 15 (PTI) Even as the Web3 community believes that India holds tremendous potential and the policy, participants at the TOKEN2049 said the global industry is waiting for India to provide legal clarity on cryptos and virtual assets as the market is “too large to stay out of this new phenomenon.”

TOKEN2049 is a premier crypto event, organised annually in Singapore, bringing together the global crypto industry. This year, the conference and exhibition was held 13-14 September.

Given that the country’s technologists are providing impetus for digital transformation globally and that the market is too large to stay out of this new phenomenon, the global industry is waiting for India to provide legal clarity on cryptos and virtual assets.

India will have to legalise cryptos if the government wants to collect taxes and manage data, according to Kokila Alagh, founder and legal consultant at KARM Legal Consultants based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

“You want the tax and you want the data to be managed, you will have to legalise it,” she said, pointing out that the Indian courts have removed the ban on cryptos and virtual assets.

Vishwesh Iyer, the advisor to Mumbai-based 3.0 Verse Ltd, told PTI on the sidelines of TOKEN2049, “The Web3 community believes that India holds tremendous potential and the policy indication post-G20 seems to be positive” for virtual assets while Indian innovators and technologists have started collaborations with global operators.

TOKEN2049 was attended by more than 10,000 technologists, innovators, and investors from around the world.

Prior to the G20 leaders’ summit held in New Delhi on September 9-10, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Financial Stability Board (FSB) had made a strong case for a coordinated global policy action to deal with risks posed by crypto-currencies and said that there should not be any blanket ban.

Virtually ruling out a ban on such assets, India had declared on September 10 that it would decide on implementing crypto-currency regulations after extensive discussions with other countries.

The New Delhi summit declaration had also called for, among other things, the start of the exchange of tax-relevant information on crypto assets by 2027.

Alagh said, “We now need the government of India’s support to define it to make sure that all the stigma that is attached to its misuse goes away. That would come when you have clarity of law, which the UAE has set up since 2018.”

The United Arab Emirates was the first to have a complete framework for virtual assets globally, underscored Alagh and added that globally, there are a lot of developments taking place in the crypto and tokenisation markets.

Iyer said: “It is only a matter of time before countries will come up with a regulatory framework for this asset class. Centres like Singapore and Dubai have made a huge impact on the sector and its growth.”

“We have witnessed a lot of interest as a build-up from multiple countries,” he said, adding that the Indian-origin 3.0 Verse is an ongoing development of the ecosystem in India.

3.0 Verse provides multi-market access, 3.0 TV, and 3.0 University for Web 3.0 community and potential stakeholders and is operational across major countries.

India’s major trade partners are progressing in developing virtual assets, according to industry stakeholders at the two-day mega exhibition.

Meanwhile, Indian industry collaborations and partnerships are in progress with some of the well-established global players.

Astar Japan and New Delhi-based Polygon have announced their strategic partnership to bolster Japan’s presence in the dynamic world of web3 technology. This alliance aims to drive innovation and accelerate the adoption of blockchain and decentralized technologies across the nations, said the partners at TOKEN2049.

Their shared vision is to usher in a new era of digital transformation, offering exciting possibilities for businesses and individuals alike, said Sota Watanabe, founder of ASTAR Network, one of the blockchain infrastructures in Japan.