“Crypto craze is reaching tier II and III towns and non-regulation of this market of Rs 6 lakh crore size is raising questions on the sovereign authority of government of India. Non-levy of GST in various layers of its transaction and non-imposition of income tax with penalty is causing huge loss to the state and central government revenue,” Gupta further stressed.Crypto platforms, especially WazirX, CoinSwitch Kuber and CoinDCX, have launched ads across platforms, promising big returns on crypto investments, with a thin line titled “Cryptocurrency is an unregulated digital currency, not a legal tender and subject to market risks,” placed at the end of the ads.A large number of Indians have become victims of such luring advertisement campaigns in the past, which asked them to invest in digital coins.Currently, the RBI is the nodal agency that is responsible for all issues pertaining to crypto assets in India, thanks to a recent Supreme Court judgment.”However, we have still not seen effective steps being taken from the statutory authorities to protect consumers from vagaries of crypto-assets and crypto currencies and their sharp volatility,” Duggal said.According to a recent report by IT industry’s apex body Nasscom, there are more than 15 million retail investors in India investing in the cryptotech space.A cryptocurrency bill is expected in Parliament’s winter session and according to experts, strong mechanisms need to be put up to prevent the innocent citizens from becoming victims of an impending economic disaster, who do not fully understand the legal and policy ramifications of the same.”Facing a catch-22 situation, India needs stronger laws, not only for the Blockchain-based trading but also for IT and data security, in order to tame the crypto cartels,” Gupta stressed.
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