India plans to use crypto tokens in upcoming native web browser

August 10, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Feature is envisaged in the project of national web browser, cherished by the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology.

The citizens of India might get an option to sign documents digitally through crypto tokens. Such feature is envisaged in the project of national web browser, cherished by the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY).

On August 9 MeitY announced the launch of Indian web browser Development Challenge. The Ministry hopes to “inspire and empower” developers from all corners of the country to create an indigenous web browser withan inbuilt CCA India root certificate. According to the release:

“Proposed browser would also focus on accessibility and user friendliness, ensuring built-in support for individuals with diverse abilities.”

Emphasized separately is the ability to digitally sign documents using a crypto token, which would be embedded into the browser.

The competition will last three rounds — after the first one the scope of participants would be limited to 18, after the second one to 8. The winner would be granted around 34 million Indian rupees ($411,000).

Indian government has been active in its regulatory efforts in the recent months, especially in regard to tech and crypto. Presiding at the intergovernmental forum of 20 largest world economies (G-20), it has supported the Financial Stability Board’s (FSB) recommendations for a global crypto framework and called for special attention to developing economies’ specifics in its potential guidelines for crypto.

In August, The lower house of India’s parliament voted in approval of a bill that would ease data compliance regulations for Big Tech companies. The Digital Personal Data Protection Bill 2023 would simplify storage, processing and transfer standards for r global tech giants like Google, Meta and Microsoft, as well as for local firms.

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India House passes bill to ease BigTech data compliance

August 7, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

The lower house in the parliament of India approved updates to a bill that would ease data storage, processing and transfer standards for BigTech companies.

The lower house of India’s parliament voted in approval of a bill that will ease data compliance regulations for Big Tech companies, according to a report from Bloomberg.

On Aug. 7, the legislation that was approved by the house will ease storage, processing and transfer standards for major global tech companies like Google, Meta and Microsoft and also local firms seeking international expansion.

The Digital Personal Data Protection Bill 2023 targets exports of data sourced from India, allowing companies to do so except to countries prohibited by the government.

As it currently stands, the bill requires government consent prior to BigTech companies collecting personal data. It also prevents them from selling it for reasons not listed in the contract, meaning no anonymization of personal data for use in artificial intelligence (AI) training, for example.

These updates to the bill would reduce compliance requirements for companies, though it has to pass through the upper parliamentary house prior to its finalization.

India is the world’s most populous country with billions of internet users, which makes it a key market for growth.

Concerns over data misuse in the emerging tech industry and particularly from BigTech companies have been a growing priority for regulators across the globe.

The rapid emergence of AI as an accessible tool for the general public has caused major concerns among regulators over the way these products collect and utilize user data.

India has also been named as one of the countries that is a part of collaborations with the Biden Administration in the United States to create an international framework for AI.

One recent and major development in the emerging tech scene that has caused concerns over data collection, has been with the launch of the decentralized digital identity verification protocol Worldcoin.

So far, the project has launched 1,500 of its iris scanning orbs in countries all around the world. India is home to two orbs in the northern city of Delhi and the southern city of Bangalore, according to the Worldcoin website.

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India puts forward suggestions for G20 crypto roadmap

August 2, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

The country emphasises the necessity of dealing with digital assets’ risks for developing economies.

India, the nation currently presiding in the G20, supported the Financial Stability Board’s recommendations for the global crypto framework, published in July. The country also emphasises the necessity of dealing with digital assets’ risks for developing economies.

On August 1, India’s Presidency Note for input in a roadmap on a global framework for crypto was published on the page of G20, an intergovernmental forum of the 20 largest economies in the world. The document concurs with the guidelines, written by the FSB, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and International Monetary Fund (IMF).

However, the Presidency Note suggests some additions. Among them is an emphasis on developing countries — while the IMF pays attention to developing economies’ specifics in its potential guidelines for crypto, India urges FSB to implement them as well. It also calls for outreach to all jurisdictions to “generate awareness of risks”, starting from countries with higher crypto adoption, and to extend the future regulatory approach to the digital economy beyond the G20 scope.

As revealed in the Note, the so-called Synthesis Paper by IMF and FSB will come out at the end of August and provide a broad roadmap to be considered for adoption by the G20.

In July, FSB published its guidelines for crypto and stablecoins in particular. The FSB states that crypto platforms must segregate clients’ digital assets from their own funds and clearly separate functions to avoid conflict of interest, with regulators ensuring tight cross-border cooperation and oversight. The guidelines also include the obligation for stablecoin issuers to obtain a national license in any single jurisdiction before they can operate there.

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South African Foreign Minister Says Three New Countries Have Joined BRICS Economic Alliance: Report

July 28, 2023 The Daily Hodl

Indian Supreme Court raps Union government on crypto rules delay: Report

July 28, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Central Bank

The Supreme Court bench asked the union government to file a report on whether the latter is capable of setting up a federal agency to investigate crypto-related crimes.

The Indian Supreme Court on July 27 reprimanded the Union government for the lack of crypto regulations in the country, according to a report in a local media outlet.

The Supreme Court in its observation noted that it is “unfortunate” that the government has yet to release any clear guidelines around cryptocurrencies. The observation from the court came amid growing instances of criminal activities involving cryptocurrencies and directed the Union government to bring on record whether it plans to set up any dedicated federal agency to investigate such crypto criminal cases, the local daily reported.

According to the report, Justices Surya Kant and Dipankar Datta said:

“You still don’t have any law, unfortunately. Do you have an agency at the national level to understand these cases and investigate them properly? We want you to identify a national specialised agency, in the national interest.”

The court’s observation came during the hearing of petitions booked in connection with cryptocurrency fraud cases in different states of India. The court asked the government to file a response on whether they are capable of setting up a mechanism to investigate such cases.

The fight for clear government-issued crypto regulations in India has been a long-drawn one. The government started working on a crypto bill on the instructions of the Supreme Court as early as 2018. However, the government is yet to introduce the final draft of the crypto bill despite assuring it would be completed repeatedly over the past four years.

While the Indian government is yet to come up with crypto guidelines, it was very quick to impose crypto taxation laws, which came into effect in April 2022. The law was first introduced during the bull market when India became one of the leading crypto markets with a number of crypto unicorns and trading volumes soaring into billions of dollars. However, the tax laws had a drastic impact on the thriving crypto market as the majority of the established firms decided to move away from India due to a lack of regulatory clarity.

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Crypto-friendly BlackRock starts ‘digital-first’ investment offering in India

July 27, 2023 Coin Telegraph

bitcoin regulation

As BlackRock reiterates that an optimal investment allocation should include 84.9% BTC, the firm has formed a major investment partnership in India.

Global investment giant BlackRock is expanding its reach in India with a partnership targeting the launch of the “digital-first offering” in India.

BlackRock on July 26 officially announced a joint investment project with Jio Financial Services (JFS), an arm of Indian tycoon Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries, India’s most-valued firm. The companies each plan to invest up to $150 million in the 50:50 joint venture.

Named “Jio BlackRock,” the project aims to provide “tech-enabled” access to “affordable, innovative investment solutions” to millions of investors in India, the announcement reads.

The venture will utilize BlackRock’s expertise and talent in investment management, tech access, operations, scale, and market intellectual capital, the announcement said. JFS will in turn contribute to local market insights as well as digital infrastructure and execution capabilities.

The partnership will introduce a new player to the India market with a “unique combination of scope, scale, and resources,” the announcement notes. JFS CEO Hitesh Sethia stated:

“The partnership will leverage BlackRock’s deep expertise in investment and risk management along with the technology capability and deep market expertise of JFS to drive digital delivery of products.”

The new joint venture is subject to regulatory and statutory approvals before its launch, the companies noted.

While referring to the new product as the “digital-first offering” in India, BlackRock and JFS didn’t specify any concrete plans for cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC) or any type of digital assets. The firms didn’t immediately respond to Cointelegraph’s request to comment.

The news comes just as BlackRock analysts reiterate that an optimal investment allocation should include 84.9% BTC, 9% stocks and 6% real estate. The analysts previously made a similar claim in 2022.

If all investors follow BlackRock’s optimal BTC allocation, Bitcoin will be worth more than 5x the total value of all equities, real estate, and bonds.

84.9% BTC and 15.1% everything else

If total global wealth is ~ $800T today, #Bitcoin would be $190M per coin. https://t.co/oMHzVEMLIU
— Joe Burnett ()³ (@IIICapital) July 25, 2023

BlackRock has recently fueled notable bullish action on cryptocurrency markets by filing an application for a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the United States. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission officially accepted BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF application for review in mid-July.

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44 Countries Now Interested in Joining BRICS As Multipolar World Takes Shape: Report

July 25, 2023 The Daily Hodl

Aptos’ new user growth hits 900% after integration with social media app Chingari

July 20, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Aptos

Chingari started the migration to Aptos in July, seeking an enhanced experience for users following Solana's network outages in 2022.

The Aptos blockchain has seen a surge of activity following its integration with Chingari, an India's social media platform previously powered by Solana. According to on-chain data, the number of new users jumped 900% over the previous month, up to nearly 90,000 daily on-chain onboarding.

Chingari started migrating to Aptos on July 6, seeking an enhanced user experience following Solana's network outages in 2022. "Solana's network downtime posed challenges, compelling us to schedule many transactions [...] Rather than allowing them to be instant, to mitigate the risk of failed transactions," Sumit Ghosh, co-founder and CEO of Chingari, told Cointelegraph.

According to Ghosh, the integration with Aptos has enabled instant on-chain features, such as virtual gifts, leading to a surge of new users on the social media platform in recent weeks. It also introduced Chingari's new wallet, which allows users to earn tokens through engagement and content creation on the platform. The earned tokens can then be used to tip creators, boost content visibility, and purchase virtual gifts and nonfungible tokens (NFTs).

*Aptos network activity over the past 30 days. Source: Aptos Analytics.*

Apart from the improved usability, Chingari's growth relies on India's 1.4 billion-people economy and the booming popularity of cryptocurrencies in the country. According to Chainalysis, India is at the forefront of crypto adoption in the South Asian region.

As of July 14, Chingari accounted for 80% of all daily active users on the Aptos blockchain and 50% of all gas fees paid on the network, up more than 500% from the previous month. The number of transactions had also risen 150%, reaching almost 2 million a day. Continuing at this pace, the company anticipates surpassing the lifetime total of Stepn, the second-largest DApp on Solana, in the coming days.

"If this growth continues [...] We project that Chingari will reach 1.25 million users by the end of July, which is 10x faster than on Solana, over 20 million on chain users by the end of the first year, and a cumulative total of more than 200,000 APT paid as gas fees by the end of Year 1," estimates Ghosh.

Aptos is not the only chain benefiting from DApps seeking better on-chain performance and usability across networks. Game publisher Mythical Games recently moved from the Ethereum blockchain to the Polkadot ecosystem, citing slow transaction speeds and high transaction costs on Ethereum.

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Research: There could be 24 CBDCs live by 2030

July 10, 2023 Coin Telegraph

BIS

93% of the central banks are already conducting research on central bank digital currencies, 68% are still not ready to launch their digital money.

As 93% of the central banks are already conducting research on central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), the uncertainty about this form of digital money among them fades. There could be up to 15 retail and 9 wholesale CBDCs in circulation by 2030.

These numbers appear in the survey report by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), published on July 10. The survey of 86 central banks was conducted in late 2022 — from October to December. It asked central banks whether they were working on a retail, wholesale, or both types of CBDC, how advanced the work was and what was their motivation for it.

According to a survey, more than half of the world’s CBs are conducting experiments or working on a CBDC pilot. Almost a quarter of all CBs are already piloting their retail CBDC projects. The number of wholesale CBDCs in the works is much lower, at half that amount.

Geoeconomically, it is the nations within emerging markets and developing economies (EMDE), which are leading the CBDC adoption. Their share in piloting the retail (29%) and wholesale (16%) CBDCs almost doubles that of the advanced economies (AE), which stands at 18% and 10% respectively.

Both developing and advanced economies mostly share the motivation behind their CBDC projects — financial stability and cross-border payments efficiency. However, there is also a difference, as EMDEs are more often driven by financial inclusion reasons.

The share of CBs that are likely to issue a retail CBDC within the next three years grew from 15% last year to 18%. At the same time, 68% of central banks still state their unreadiness to issue a retail CBDC “any time soon.”

To date, there are still only 4 CBDCs in circulation — in The Bahamas, the Eastern Caribbean, Jamaica and Nigeria. Yet, based on the central bankers' answers, the survey predicts 15 retail and 9 wholesale CBDCs live by the end of this decade.

At the end of June, the Reserve Bank of India reported ongoing negotiations with at least 18 central banks worldwide regarding the possibility of cross-border payments via its CBDC, the “digital rupee.” In July, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Innovation Center (NYIC) completed its proof-of-concept of a regulated liability network for a CBDC.

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India negotiates cross-border CBDC payments with global central banks

July 5, 2023 Coin Telegraph

CBDC

The CBDC should enhance the country's potential for foreign trade with nations that lack U.S. dollar reserves.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is currently in dialogue with its counterparts from at least 18 other countries on the possibility of cross-border payments in the “digital rupee”.

The report about RBI’s ambitious foreign trade plans for the Indian central bank digital currency (CBDC), appeared in the Economic Times on June 27. It cites several public announcements by the RBI Governor, Shaktikanta Das.

During his June speech in London, Das emphasized the importance of foreign trade infrastructure for the “digital rupee”, which was set to reach 1 million users domestically by the beginning of July:

“But cross-border payments will also become much quicker, more seamless and very cost-effective. That is another area where a lot of attention needs to be given. We are constantly in dialogue with other central banks that have introduced or are introducing CBDCs.”

According to the report, banks from 18 countries have already opened rupee vostro accounts since July 2022. In his other public appearance, Das explained India’s eagerness to provide its CBDC as a payment method for importing Indian goods for countries, struggling with the U.S. dollar supply:

“In India, we have no shortage of dollars, but in some other markets, due to a shortage of dollars, they are unable to do imports.”

Another reason for betting hard on the digital rupee for foreign trade deals is the intent to save up the dollar reserves of the country:

“In the ‘taper tantrum’ period, suddenly, India had an external sector crisis, and the RBI had to attract foreign inflows by offering some incentives. We did not want to have a repeat of that situation.”

The RBI launched its wholesale digital rupee pilot project in Nov. 2022 and a retail digital rupee pilot project in Feb. 2023. In March it announced an agreement with the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates to study a CBDC bridge for trade and remittances.

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