Key Takeaways
- • Industry leaders at the Business Standard BFSI Insight Summit 2026 in Mumbai said India's crypto sector needs greater regulatory clarity and a tax framework that reflects how digital assets are traded and used.
- • EY India tax partner Vandana Ahuja acknowledged that the 1 per cent TDS burden is disproportionate for frequent traders, whose tax deducted can exceed profits earned, and said the industry should raise these concerns with the government.
- • Binance APAC head SB Seker said the regulatory discussion in India has changed little despite a substantial user base, with market demand moving ahead of policy.
- • BitDelta India CEO Vikaas Sachdeva said Indian investors are increasingly treating digital assets as investments, with interest spanning smaller cities, and are prioritising asset safety, segregation of assets and data protection.
- • Panellists from Binance, BitDelta India and CoinSwitch identified tokenisation of real-world assets as a emerging use case, though CoinSwitch co-founder Vimal Sagar Tiwari said real-world applications have yet to arrive.
Summary
Crypto industry executives and a tax advisor called for greater regulatory clarity and a tax framework suited to how digital assets are traded and used in India, according to a session at the Business Standard BFSI Insight Summit 2026 in Mumbai on Tuesday. The session, titled 'Taxed but Not Trusted: Can India Regulate an Asset It Doesn't Recognise?', was moderated by Business Standard's Shivani Shinde and featured representatives from Binance, BitDelta India and CoinSwitch, along with Vandana Ahuja, tax partner for financial services at EY India.
Ahuja said the taxation of digital assets has become clearer, but certain elements of the framework still create difficulties for traders. She acknowledged the burden of the 1 per cent TDS, particularly for frequent traders, where tax deducted on transactions can be disproportionate to profits earned. She said the industry needed to present these concerns to the government, even as tax authorities gain more transaction information through data-sharing arrangements and exchanges of information with other countries.
SB Seker, APAC head at Binance, said the regulatory debate in India has changed little despite the country's large digital-asset user base, suggesting market demand is moving ahead of policy discussions. He said exchanges are developing technology tools that could help regulators address fraud prevention and transparency concerns. Vikaas Sachdeva, chief executive officer of BitDelta India, said India's digital-first approach made it a significant market, but cautioned against relying solely on headline adoption figures. He said interest is coming from smaller cities as well as major urban centres, with users increasingly treating digital assets as investments rather than short-term trading instruments. Vimal Sagar Tiwari, co-founder of CoinSwitch, described India as a very important market for crypto investment and cited its technology adoption and ease of onboarding.
The panel also addressed tokenisation, which uses blockchain to represent assets digitally and could broaden the range of financial products available to investors. Tiwari described tokenisation as an important blockchain use case and said platforms are exploring products beyond conventional virtual digital assets, while adding that real-world use cases have yet to arrive. Sachdeva said the sector is becoming more layered, with trading representing only one part of the broader digital-asset ecosystem.
Panellists also framed investor protection and innovation as parallel priorities. Tiwari argued customer protection should not come at the cost of innovation, while Seker said exchanges are already applying technology to fraud prevention. Sachdeva said investor questions have grown more sophisticated, with greater attention to asset safety and handling of personal information, which he said reflects a more mature investor base.
Ahuja said the taxation of digital assets has become clearer, but certain elements of the framework still create difficulties for traders. She acknowledged the burden of the 1 per cent TDS, particularly for frequent traders, where tax deducted on transactions can be disproportionate to profits earned. She said the industry needed to present these concerns to the government, even as tax authorities gain more transaction information through data-sharing arrangements and exchanges of information with other countries.
SB Seker, APAC head at Binance, said the regulatory debate in India has changed little despite the country's large digital-asset user base, suggesting market demand is moving ahead of policy discussions. He said exchanges are developing technology tools that could help regulators address fraud prevention and transparency concerns. Vikaas Sachdeva, chief executive officer of BitDelta India, said India's digital-first approach made it a significant market, but cautioned against relying solely on headline adoption figures. He said interest is coming from smaller cities as well as major urban centres, with users increasingly treating digital assets as investments rather than short-term trading instruments. Vimal Sagar Tiwari, co-founder of CoinSwitch, described India as a very important market for crypto investment and cited its technology adoption and ease of onboarding.
The panel also addressed tokenisation, which uses blockchain to represent assets digitally and could broaden the range of financial products available to investors. Tiwari described tokenisation as an important blockchain use case and said platforms are exploring products beyond conventional virtual digital assets, while adding that real-world use cases have yet to arrive. Sachdeva said the sector is becoming more layered, with trading representing only one part of the broader digital-asset ecosystem.
Panellists also framed investor protection and innovation as parallel priorities. Tiwari argued customer protection should not come at the cost of innovation, while Seker said exchanges are already applying technology to fraud prevention. Sachdeva said investor questions have grown more sophisticated, with greater attention to asset safety and handling of personal information, which he said reflects a more mature investor base.
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