India’s Crypto Scene On a Nascent Growth Path: Chainalysis

Telecoms Boosted Through 100% FDI Approval
In an intriguing development, the government of India on Tuesday, October 5th, disclosed its decision to publicly announce that 100% foreign direct investment (FDIs) will be permitted under the automatic route classification for the telecom industry. FDIs in India are capable of following two routes: the approval/government route - in which the government permission is a prerequisite for the FDI to be produced; as well as the automatic route - free from the requirement of government permittance. 

Prior to this reform, the upper bound limit for FDIs to be produced through the automatic route was capped at 49%. This meant that it was imperative that any and all FDIs exceeding the limit would require government authentication to proceed further. 

This move is being seen as a further amelioration towards the debt stricken telecom industry, mere weeks since the relief schemes such as monumental 4 year moratorium (a period of time in which an entity is free from the obligation to repay debt and liability) on Adjusted Growth Revenue (AGR) dues. 

The amended regime covers all telecom services within Indian borders, and will be another integral component of the government’s telecom package. Despite the immense amount of sectors and industries which enable for automatic routes for FDIs, several major industries continue to require government mandates, such as defence, healthcare, pharmaceutical, and previously telecom. 

The announcement was publicised by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), and yields optimistic views of the rebounding of the telecom sector, to a certain extent. With input from The Mint & India Today

India’s Crypto Unicorn Club Gains a New Member

A recent round of funding led by Andreessen Horowitz and Coinbase Ventures, has propelled India’s largest cryptocurrency exchange platform, CoinSwitch Kuber, to attain unicorn prestige, thereby making it the second Indian crypto to do so, following the ascension of CoinDCX (another investing destination of Coinbase Ventures). 

CoinSwitch Kuber was capable of generating excess of $260 million in the most recent round of funding, enabling for its valuation to cross $1.9 billion; as compared to CoinDCX’s valuation of $1.1 billion. While the exchange’s initial primary focus during its launch in 2017 was to serve as an international accumulator of crypto-exchanges, once operations commenced in India in 2020, the platform strived for the simplification of crypto-processes.

 CoinSwitch’s new status makes it the 30th Indian start-up to acquire Unicorn classification. With input from The Mint

India’s Crypto Scene On a Nascent Growth Path: Chainalysis

Recent revelations disclosed in Chainalysis, a renowned global crypto-correspondent, state that India’s dynamically increasing demand for crypto-exchange and transactions is nourishing a region spanning across central and southern Asia towards in being one of the world’s fastest growing hubs for cryptocurrency growth. 

The rate of expansion is the most robust, following the Middle East and European regions, with phenomenal projections produced for the southern Asian region. The report scrutinised consequential with certain metrics to ascertain the cryptocurrency prowess of that nation. 

According to Chanalysis, India and Pakistan have incurred a resounding growth of 641% and 711% respectively over the last 12 months, with larged sized transfers over $10 million accounting for 40% of the total transactions in India alone. 

The report also conveyed how the government could be inclining towards taxation policies, as opposed to the expected outright prohibitions which have been under heavy deliberation till now. With input from The Economic Times

Sunday, October 10th 2021
​Ronojoy Borpujari



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