Nirmala Sitharaman News

"We have only taxed the profit emanating from the crypto transactions," Nirmala Sitharaman said.

Responding to questions posed around Union Budget 2022, particularly around cryptocurrency taxation and legalisation in the Rajya Sabha, FM Nirmala Sitharaman clearly noted that while the "profit emanating from transactions associated to cryptocurrency has been taxed, nothing has been done, at the moment, to legalise, ban or de-legalise it".

crypto assets or virtual digital currencies are a major threat to macroeconomic and financial stability of a country, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Shaktikanta Das said at press conference held on Thursday. I have said that investors are their own judge. But, it is my duty today to tell investors that while betting on cryptos, they should be mindful that they are investing at their own risk. “Cryptocurrencies have no underlying (value), not even a tulip,” Das said at the meeting.

Cryptocurrencies have no underlying value, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said.

By Pratik Gauri, CEO & Founder, 5ire The Indian business ecosystem pinned its hopes on the Union Budget after thousands of small and medium enterprises were severely affected by the ongoing pandemic, especially the devastating second wave and the (diminishing) third wave. Among those who were hopeful were crypto investors and enthusiasts, who feared significant losses due to the uncertainty regarding the stance the Indian government was likely to take on recognising and regulating cryptos. On February 1, those hopes for recognition weren’t dashed as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that digital assets would be doubly taxed in terms of gains as well at the source.

Bitcoin is the first name that comes to mind when we discuss cryptocurrency.

Government has a consultation process for cryptocurrency formalisation, Nirmala Sitharaman has said

India has surprised the payments world by announcing that its central bank will issue a digital currency as early as the coming financial year, a crucial decision that most other major economies are refusing to make in a hurry. According to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, an electronic representation of India's legal tender will give a big boost to its digital economy. How valid is that claim, and how risky is a hasty transition to a central bank digital currency, or CBDC?

India became one of the few countries to tax digital assets like cryptocurrencies and NFTs (non-fungible tokens) when finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a 30% tax on transfer of such assets in the Budget. Though the FM said taxing an asset does not bring legitimacy, industry watchers said that clarity on tax policy is likely to be the first step towards regulation of crypto. Some industry players said that the high tax will dissuade investors, while others felt it will give confidence to serious investors. The Budget announcements mean that income from any transfer of crypto, even gifts, would attract a 30% tax. In addition, investors cannot get any deductions and won’t be allowed to set off losses from transfer of such assets against any other income. The government has sent a strong signal against speculation or trading by retail investors, according to analysts.Attract or dissuade investors?According to industry players, clarity on taxation will give new customers confidence to enter the crypto market. Darshan Bathija, CEO & co-founder of crypto exchange Vauld, said that the government’s move has addressed concerns around legality and that he expects more Indians to invest in crypto. Presented ByDid you Know?Sunny Leone too

Nirmala Sitharaman, an electronic representation of India’s legal tender will give a big boost to its digital economy. How valid is that claim, and how risky is a hasty transition to a central bank digital currency, or CBDC? A digital rupee will be like banknotes, but minus the ATMs. Users will be able to transfer purchasing power from their deposit accounts into their smartphone wallets in the form of online tokens, which will be a direct liability of the Reserve Bank of India — just like cash.

Many see government's announcement as an acknowledgment of crypto industry as emerging asset class

The government has begun the process of preparing the blueprint of a new set of reforms necessary to improve the ease of doing business, as announced by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her budget speech on February 1. The next phase of reforms will specifically focus on strengthening production and easing supply chains, and have a dedicated segment focusing on 'ease of living'.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman looked to retain the government's focus on capital expenditure by setting aside a mammoth Rs 7.50 lakh crore for the same for FY23. However, questions have been raised about the nature of this target: is it realistic, overstated, or just a huge challenge?

At 11.45 am on 1 February, the WazirX crypto token was trading at Rs 64.50, a modest rise of 3% in the past 24 hours.

digital currency is likely to debut by early 2023, which will mirror any of the currently available private company-operated electronic wallets, but with a change that it will be a sovereign-backed facility, a top government source said. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her budget speech last week talked about launching a central bank-backed 'digital rupee' soon. A top government source, who wished not to be identified said, the digital currency issued by the RBI would be numbered in units, just like every fiat currency has an unique number. «The units issued in digital rupee would be included in the currency in circulation. It would not be very different from fiat currency. It would be more like an electronic form of fiat currency, so in a sense it would be a government-mandated electronic wallet,» the source said.

Mumbai: The industry body representing cryptocurrency exchanges has decided to reach out to relevant policymakers to brief them about complications arising out of the government’s move to levy a 1% TDS on all crypto transactions. The issue was discussed at the meeting of the Blockchain and Crypto Assets Council (BACC) on Saturday, where the overwhelming view was that this move would dent crypto trading volumes and drive small traders towards informal Person to Person (P2P) trading and decentralised exchanges (DEX).Crypto exchanges derive a large chunk of their revenues from traders who frequently trade and pay a small sum on every trade.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman while addressing a post-Budget interaction with industry body FICCI,  assured that India's economic recovery is going to place it as the fastest growing economy amongst others.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday did not hand out any major tax benefits for individual tax-payers during her Budget announcements.

Country's own official digital currency is likely to arrive by early next year

Disappointing numbers from Meta, formerly known as Facebook and a sell-off in tech stocks such as Amazon and Snap added to the pressure. All the top-10 digital tokens were trading with decent gains. Terra gained more than 5 per cent and Bitcoin over 1 per cent. Dogecoin, however, fell marginally to slip to the eleventh spot.

Cryptocurrencies will now finally be taxed in India. In her Budget speech on February 1, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the transfer of digital assets - and these includes cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens- will attract a 30 percent tax. Additionally, all transfers of such assets will attract 1 percent tax deducted at source (TDS). Even gifting such assets will attract the 30 percent tax.