India
IndiaRegulation by tax and AML: crypto is legal, heavily taxed and FIU-registered, but India still has no licensing law.
Key Regulatory Progress
Every law, rule and official guide on crypto in India: 6 apply today, and the rest show what's coming and how regulators read the rules. Each is explained in plain words and linked to the official original.
Last checked against the originals on 5 Oct 2026.
Exchanges & custody
Licensing, conduct and custody rules for trading platforms and service providers.
- In forceApplies today
3rd Revision of Circular for Registration of Virtual Digital Asset Service Providers in FIU-IND as Reporting Entity
Revised process and documentation for VDA service providers, onshore and offshore, to register as reporting entities before serving Indian users.
Read the original - GuidanceNot binding law
Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 5805: Regulation of Virtual Digital Assets in the Country
Official answer listing the 54 VDA service providers registered with FIU-IND as of 9 March 2026 and the 53 platforms whose apps and URLs it had ordered taken down. It confirms FIU-IND does not publish a register and that registration is not a licence.
Read the original - GuidanceNot binding law
FIU IND issues notices for non-compliance to 25 offshore VDA Service Providers
Second enforcement wave against unregistered offshore platforms. Reports that 50 VDA service providers had registered with FIU-IND.
Read the original - GuidanceNot binding law
FIU IND issues compliance Show Cause Notices to nine offshore VDA Service Providers
Named nine offshore exchanges operating without registration and asked the IT ministry to block their URLs. At the time 31 VDA SPs had registered.
Read the original
AML & travel rule
Anti-money-laundering obligations and the FATF travel rule.
- In forceApplies today
AML and CFT Guidelines for Reporting Entities Providing Services Related to Virtual Digital Assets
FIU-IND's updated rulebook for VDA service providers, first issued in 2023. Covers registration, KYC, travel rule, record-keeping and suspicious transaction reporting.
Read the original - In forceApplies today
Notification S.O. 1072(E): VDA activities notified under the Prevention of Money-laundering Act, 2002
Made businesses that exchange, transfer, safekeep or administer VDAs, or provide financial services for token offerings, reporting entities under the PMLA. This is the legal basis for FIU-IND registration.
Read the original
Tax
How gains, income and transactions are taxed.
- In forceApplies today
Finance Act, 2026 (No. 4 of 2026)
The first budget law under the Income-tax Act, 2025. Its new section 446 sets penalties of ₹200 a day for not filing, and ₹50,000 for inaccurate, crypto-asset transaction statements under section 509, from 1 April 2026.
Read the original - In forceApplies today
Income-tax Rules, 2026 (G.S.R. 198(E)): rules 241 to 244 and Form 167 on crypto-asset reporting
In force from 1 April 2026, these rules set CARF-style due diligence for reporting crypto-asset service providers and require Form 167 statements for each calendar year from 2026, due by 31 May of the following year.
Read the original - In forceApplies today
Income-tax Act, 2025 (No. 30 of 2025)
Replaced the Income-tax Act, 1961 from 1 April 2026. It keeps the VDA definition (section 2(111)), the 30% tax with no loss set-off (section 194), the 1% TDS (section 393(1)) and crypto-asset reporting (section 509).
Read the original - GuidanceNot binding law
Circular No. 13 of 2022: Guidelines under section 194S of the Income-tax Act, 1961
Explains how exchanges and counterparties deduct the 1% TDS on VDA transfers, including exchange-to-exchange and in-kind trades. Issued under section 194S of the 1961 Act, whose rule now sits in section 393(1) of the Income-tax Act, 2025.
Read the original - GuidanceNot binding law
Budget Speech 2022-23 (Scheme for taxation of virtual digital assets)
The Finance Minister announced the 30% VDA tax and 1% TDS, the first formal recognition of crypto in Indian law.
Read the original - SupersededReplaced
Finance Act, 2025 (No. 7 of 2025)
Added crypto-asset reporting by prescribed entities (section 285BAA of the 1961 Act) and widened the VDA definition. Also brought VDAs into undisclosed income for search assessments. These rules now sit in the Income-tax Act, 2025.
Read the original - SupersededReplaced
Finance Act, 2022 (No. 6 of 2022)
Inserted the VDA definition (section 2(47A)), the 30% tax (section 115BBH) and 1% TDS (section 194S) into the Income-tax Act, 1961. Carried into the Income-tax Act, 2025 from 1 April 2026.
Read the original
Investor protection
Market abuse, disclosure, advertising and retail safeguards.
- GuidanceNot binding law
FIU-IND issues notices for non-compliance to 15 VDA Service Providers
Section 13 PMLA notices and IT Act takedown notices to 15 platforms including WhiteBIT, Pionex and ChangeNow. Repeats the warning that crypto products are unregulated and risky.
Read the original
Banks & prudential
What banks may hold, custody or issue.
- GuidanceNot binding law
Customer Due Diligence for transactions in Virtual Currencies (VC), RBI/2021-22/45
Confirmed the 2018 circular is no longer valid after IAMAI v RBI. Banks may serve crypto clients but must apply normal KYC, AML and FEMA due diligence.
Read the original - SupersededReplaced
Prohibition on dealing in Virtual Currencies (VCs), RBI/2017-18/154
Barred RBI-regulated entities from dealing in or servicing virtual currencies. The Supreme Court set it aside on 4 March 2020.
Read the original
CBDC & tokenised money
Central-bank digital currency and tokenised deposit programmes.
- GuidanceNot binding law
Operationalisation of Central Bank Digital Currency: Retail (e₹-R) Pilot
Announced the retail e-rupee pilot from 1 December 2022 with a closed user group of banks, customers and merchants.
Read the original - GuidanceNot binding law
Concept Note on Central Bank Digital Currency
Set out RBI's design for a wholesale and retail e-rupee and its view that CBDC is a safer alternative to private cryptocurrencies.
Read the original
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