Davos: &nbsp;India must establish rules on cryptocurrencies to resolve regulatory uncertainty, protect investors and boost its crypto sector, CoinSwitch CEO Ashish Singhal said on Sunday.Although India's central bank has backed a ban on cryptocurrencies over risks to financial stability, a federal government move to tax income from them has been interpreted by the industry as a sign of acceptance by New Delhi. "Users don't know what will happen with their holdings - is government going to ban, not ban, how is it going to be regulated?," Singhal, a former Amazon engineer who co-founded CoinSwitch, told Reuters at the World Economic Forum in Davos.CoinSwitch, which is valued at $1.9 billion, says it is the largest crypto company in India with more than 18 million users. The firm, based in India's main tech hub of Bengaluru, is backed by Andreessen Horowitz, Tiger Global and Coinbase Ventures. "Regulations will bring peace ... more certainty," he added. Blockchain and cryptocurrency companies have a large presence at this year's Davos meeting, which coincides with a period of crypto prices plummeting around the world. India's central bank has voiced "serious concerns" around private cryptocurrencies, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi in December said such emerging technologies should be used to empower democracy, not undermine it.Exchanges often struggle in India to partner with banks to allow transfer of funds and in April, CoinSwitch and some others disabled rupee deposits through a widely-used state-backed network, alarming investors. 'CLARITY' While moves on taxation and certain advertising regulation had brought some relief, a lot more needed to be done, Singhal said, adding that India should develop a set of laws. These should include norms for identity verification and transferring crypto assets, while for exchanges, India should put in place a mechanism for them to track transactions and report them to any authority if need be.While no official data is available on the size of India's crypto market, CoinSwitch estimates the number of investors at up to 20 million, with total holdings of about $6 billion. Regulatory uncertainty has been widely felt. In April, Coinbase, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the United States, launched in India, but within days paused use of a state-backed inter-bank fund transfer service.Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong later said in May the move was triggered due to "informal pressure" from India's central bank. CoinSwitch too has paused so-called UPI transfers to hold talks with banking partners and make them comfortable, Singhal said in the interview. He added CoinSwitch was is in talks with regulators to try and restart the transfer service. "We are pushing for regulations. With the right regulation, we can get the clarity," he said.—REUTERS

India must establish rules on cryptocurrencies to resolve regulatory uncertainty, protect investors and boost its crypto sector, CoinSwitch CEO Ashish Singhal said on Sunday.

India's top crypto app CoinSwitch calls for regulatory 'peace, certainty'

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday launched a special series of coins that are also 'visually impaired friendly'.The coins of Re 1, Rs 2, 5, 10 and 20 denominations will have the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav (AKAM) design are not commemorative coins and will be part of circulation."These new series of coins will remind people of the goal of amrit kal and motivate people to work towards the development of the country," Modi said while addressing the iconic week celebration of the Ministry of Finance.Modi also launched the 'Jan Samarth portal' -- a credit-linked portal of 12 government schemes.Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said each of these schemes will be displayed on the portal. "This portal is going to make it easy so that citizens does not have to ask the same questions every time to avail himself a government programme".—PTI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday launched a special series of coins that are also 'visually impaired friendly'.

Modi launches new series of coins with AKAM design

New Delhi: As a part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav (AKAM) which marks the celebrations of India's 75 years of Independence, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday released a special series of Rs 1, Rs 2, Rs 5, Rs 10 and Rs 20 coins. According to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), these special series of coins have the theme of the logo of AKAM and will also be easily identifiable to visually impaired persons. The Prime Minister participated in iconic week celebrations of the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Corporate Affairs today. He also launched the National Portal for Credit Linked Government schemes - Jan Samarth Portal.Addressing the event, Prime Minister said, "Whoever took part in the long struggle for independence, added a different dimension to this movement, and augmented its energy. Some adopted the path of satyagraha, some chose the path of weapons, some faith and spirituality, and some intellectually helped to keep the flame of freedom burning bright, today is the day when we acknowledge all of them." Prime Minister stressed that it is the duty of every countryman to make a special contribution to the development of the nation at their own level. PM Modi noted that India has also worked on different dimensions in the last eight years. The public participation that increased in the country during this period has given impetus to the development of the country and empowered the poorest of the country's citizens. He remarked that Swachh Bharat Abhiyan gave an opportunity to the poor to live with dignity. Facilities like pucca houses, electricity, gas, water and free treatment increased the dignity of the poor and improved facilities. The scheme of free rations during the COVID period freed more than 80 crore countrymen from the fear of hunger."We are witnessing a new confidence among the citizens to come out of the mentality of deprivation and dream big," he said.The Prime Minister said the country has borne the brunt of government-centric governance in the past. But today 21st century India is moving ahead with the approach of people-centric governance. He said earlier it was the responsibility of the people to go to the government for availing benefits of the schemes. Now the emphasis is on taking governance to people and freeing them from the rigamarole of doing rounds of different ministries and websites. The launch of the National Portal for Credit Linked Government schemes - Jan Samarth Portal is a major step in this direction. This portal will improve the lives of students, farmers, businessmen, MSME entrepreneurs and will help them in realizing their dreams, he added. The Prime Minister said that in any reform if its objectives and goals are clear and there is seriousness in its implementation then good results are assured. The Prime Minister emphasized that the youth of our country have been kept at the heart of the reforms the country has undertaken in the last eight years. This will help them to show their potential. "Our youth can easily open the company they want, they can start their enterprises easily, and they can run them easily. Therefore by reducing more than 30,000 compliances, abolishing more than 1500 laws, and decriminalizing several provisions of the Companies Act, we have ensured that Indian companies not only move ahead but also achieve new heights," he added.The Prime Minister also said in reforms, the government is focused on simplification. GST has now replaced the web of many taxes at the centre and the state. The country is also seeing the result of this simplification. Now it has become normal for GST collection to cross one lakh crore rupees every month, he said. He said that the GeM portal has brought in new ease for procurement in government and made selling to the government very easy. The purchase figure for the portal has crossed 1 lakh crore, the Prime Minister informed. He also talked of portals that are bringing ease of doing business. He talked about Invest India Portal for information regarding investment opportunities, Single window clearance portal for business formalities. In this series, this Jan Samarth Portal is going to help the nation's youth and startup ecosystem' the Prime Minister pointed out. "Today when we move with the power of reform, simplification and ease, we attain a new level of convenience. We have shown in the last 8 years that if India collectively decides to do something then India becomes a new hope for the world. Today the world is looking at us not just as a big consumer market but looking at us with hope and confidence as a capable, game-changing, creative, innovative ecosystem," the Prime Minister said.The Prime Minister said a large part of the world expects India to solve problems. This is possible because in the last 8 years the wisdom of the common Indian has been trusted. "We encouraged the public as intelligent participants in Growth. We have always found that whatever technology is deployed for good governance is not only adopted by people but also appreciated by them", the Prime Minister said referring to the achievement of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI).—ANI

As a part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav (AKAM) which marks the celebrations of India's 75 years of Independence, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday released a special series of Rs 1, Rs 2, Rs 5, Rs 10 and Rs 20 coins.

PM Modi releases special series of coins with Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav logo

New Delhi (The Hawk): As part of its investigation into the E-nuggets gambling software case, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has frozen Bitcoins worth Rs 7.12 crore and confiscated Rs 1.65 crore in cash, according to officials.
According to the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, the agency recently conducted search operations at two locations in Kolkata, which resulted in the seizure of Rs 1.65 crore in cash, the freezing of 44.5 Bitcoin (worth Rs 7.12 crore at current exchange rates), and other incriminating papers (PMLA).
The FIR that the Kolkata police filed against Aamir Khan and others served as the basis for the registration of the current case. The Federal Bank authorities' lawsuit in a city court served as the foundation for the FIR.
Khan released the mobile gaming app E-Nuggets, which was made with the intention of scamming the public. Furthermore, the withdrawal from the said app was abruptly stopped under various pretexts after receiving a sizable donation from the public. Following that, all data, including profile data, was deleted from the app servers.
Officials stated that it was discovered that the money was laundered through more than 300 different accounts.
An earlier search operation against Khan resulted in the seizure of Rs 17.32 crore from his home as well as the tracking and freezing of Bitcoins worth Rs 13.56 crore and other crypto currencies worth Rs 47.64 lakh. In addition, the agency frozen Rs 5.47 crore discovered in Khan and his accomplice's bank account.
So far, a total of Rs 51.16 crore has been recovered in the case during investigations under the PMLA.
Further research into the topic is ongoing.
(Inputs from Agencies)

As part of its investigation into the E-nuggets gambling software case, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has frozen Bitcoins worth Rs 7.12 crore and confiscated Rs 1.65 crore in cash, according to officials.

E-nuggets case: ED freezes 7.12 crore Bitcoins

New Delhi: To celebrate India's G20 presidency, the government will issue two commemorative coins: a Rs 100 and a Rs 75 piece.
The Ashoka Lion Capital and the words "Satyamev Jayate" in Devnagari will be featured on the obverse of the commemorative Rs 100 coin, as announced in a gazette notification on July 24.
In addition, the word "Bharat" will be written in Devnagari script to the left of it, while the term "India" will be written in English to the right.—Inputs from Agencies

To celebrate India's G20 presidency, the government will issue two commemorative coins: a Rs 100 and a Rs 75 piece.

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India's top crypto app CoinSwitch calls for regulatory 'peace, certainty'

Pushkar Raj Kapoor

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India's top crypto app CoinSwitch calls for regulatory 'peace, certainty'

Pushkar Raj Kapoor

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Modi launches new series of coins with AKAM design

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