Despite tightening measures against money laundering and terror financing, India has no immediate plans to regulate cryptocurrency transactions.

The Indian government revealed no immediate plans to regulate the sales and purchase of cryptocurrencies as it continues to tighten oversight on crypto-related money laundering and terror financing.

During a parliamentary meeting on Aug. 5, Pankaj Chaudhary, the Minister of State in India’s Ministry of Finance, responded to several questions detailing the nation’s current stance on crypto regulations.

Chaudhary said that India has not conducted any study or research to understand the adoption level of cryptocurrencies among its citizens. He responded by saying that:

“Crypto assets or Virtual Digital Assets (VDAs) are unregulated in India and the government does not collect data on these assets.”

India will tax crypto, not regulate it

Although India officially implemented a tax system for cryptocurrency transfers and profits on April 1, 2022, the government has no plans to regulate the sale and purchase of cryptocurrencies. Under India’s crypto law, citizens are required to pay a 30% tax on unrealized crypto gains and a 1% tax deducted at source (TDS).

Chaudhary highlighted India’s ongoing efforts toward Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) in crypto. Earlier in January, India banned several offshore crypto exchanges for noncompliance with local regulations, including Binance, KuCoin, Bitget, Huobi, OKX, Gate.io and MEXC.

However, the nation has no plans to regulate crypto purchases and sales. Chaudhary added:

“Currently, there is no proposal to bring legislation for regulating the sales and purchase of virtual digital assets in the country.”

Ongoing efforts to curb illicit crypto activities

He also reminded that India had pushed for a coordinated effort from all G20 nations to curb the illicit use of cryptocurrencies globally during its 2023 presidency.

Binance’s plan to reenter India after paying a $2 million fine for noncompliance was recently met with a roadblock.

On Aug. 6, the Directorate General of Goods and Service Tax Intelligence (DGGI) — an Indian law enforcement agency — demanded 722 crore Indian rupees ($86 million) in unpaid taxes from Binance.

Indian authorities had sent email notices to Binance offices in Seychelles, the Cayman Islands and Switzerland, which the crypto exchange ignored. However, Binance later appointed a local counsel to officially resolve its tax obligations.

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Read:  Coin Telegraph

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HOW TO BUY XRP

“XRP is one of the largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, starting the year with a value of more than $30 billion.  XRP’s origins date back to 2012 when the company now known as Ripple was founded and the XRP Ledger launched.”

“Unlike bitcoin (BTC) and ethereum (ETH), the Ripple network and its XRP native cryptocurrency were designed to facilitate financial transfers among banks and other global financial institutions.

 The goal of the project was to create a cheaper, faster and more secure alternative to the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications, or SWIFT, which executes financial transfers.”

WHAT IS XRP?
“While investors sometimes refer to the XRP cryptocurrency as Ripple, in fact Ripple is the technology company backing XRP and the XRP ledger blockchain.

The XRP blockchain itself is decentralized and public. The Ripple transaction protocol facilitates XRP network transactions, a set of rules governing RippleNet. RippleNet is a network of payment facilitators and banks worldwide that helps participants send and receive payments seamlessly, reducing transaction bottlenecks.”

“Unlike bitcoin, dogecoin (DOGE) and other cryptocurrencies mined using a proof-of-work consensus mechanism, XRP is pre-mined and has a maximum total supply of 100 billion tokens. ”

1. Decide if you want to buy XRP.
“XRP has advantages over bitcoin, ethereum and other leading cryptocurrencies, but it may only be right for some investors. ”

2. Find a place to buy XRP.
“Once you have decided to buy XRP, you must find a cryptocurrency exchange or investing app that supports XRP trading. Exchanges are online platforms where users trade cryptocurrencies, and XRP is supported on a large number of markets and exchanges. “

Centralized exchanges
“A centralized crypto exchange is similar to a traditional financial institution in which a centralized company acts as an intermediary between transaction participants. Leading centralized crypto exchanges that support XRP trading include Binance, Coinbase, Kraken and Bybit.”

Decentralized exchanges
“A decentralized crypto exchange allows users to make direct transactions through blockchain technology to complete trades without needing a centralized intermediary. Leading decentralized crypto exchanges that support XRP trading include PancakeSwap, SimpleSwap and onXRP.”

3. Choose a form of payment.
Once you open an account on your preferred exchange, you must decide which payment methods are compatible with your exchange and convenient for you.

Fiat currency
“Many centralized exchanges allow the U.S. dollar or other fiat currencies for payment. Fiat currencies are government-supported currencies that are not backed by physical assets. Examples include the U.S. dollar, Japanese yen and euro.”

Cryptocurrency
“Crypto exchanges often allow users to buy and sell one cryptocurrency using other cryptocurrencies. It’s common for crypto traders to buy and sell altcoins like XRP using bitcoin.”

Stablecoins
“Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies designed to have stable prices, typically by pegging them to the price of a fiat currency or other commodity. Popular stablecoins include tether (USDT), USDC (USDC) and Dai (DAI), which are all pegged to the U.S. dollar.”

4. Store your XRP.
“You will need a digital wallet compatible with XRP to store your crypto. Digital wallets are hardware or software that store a user’s private keys and are used to send and receive crypto.  Some cryptocurrency exchanges provide custodial wallets to their customers.

But others require noncustodial wallets that leave the user responsible for securing private keys. Centralized exchanges such as Kraken and Coinbase offer users custodian wallets.

XRP is also supported on noncustodial software wallets such as GateHub, Xumm and Trust Wallet, as well as noncustodial hardware wallets such as Ledger, Keystone and Trezor.”

@ Newshounds News™

Read more:  USA Today

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De-Dollarization Faltering in Africa Because Citizens Lack Confidence in Their National Currencies

HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE TO DE-DOLLARIZE THE WORLD WHEN WE HAVE REAL-WORLD PROBLEMS SUCH AS THIS ARTICLE PRESENTS STILL EXIST

“Sometime in 2023, during the peak of anti-dollar hype, Kenyan President William Ruto questioned why his country and Djibouti still had to settle trade in U.S. dollars when they had their currencies.”

” The U.S. dollar hegemony was never widely seen as a threat, even as a few small countries were highlighting Washington’s apparent use of the currency’s dominance to achieve political goals.

However, when the U.S. took the bold step of using the dollar’s dominance to punish Russia after its invasion of Ukraine, suddenly there seemed to be a consensus among countries that Washington was weaponizing its currency.

For countries fearing they might be the next target, advocating for an alternative to the dollar or de-dollarization became the logical course of action.”

“Clearly, the process or task of establishing a currency that eats into the greenback’s dominance is a mammoth one. But why is it difficult to create or launch a currency that can challenge the U.S. dollar? Alternatively, what has enabled the dollar to remain the most preferred reserve currency, even among those bitterly opposed to the U.S.?”

U.S. Dollar as a Store of Value
“Well, a lot may have nothing to do with what the U.S. is doing right but rather with what its opponents are doing. A good example exists in Africa, where persistently high inflation rates have convinced citizens that holding onto a local currency is unwise.”

“Injecting money that does not correspond with an economy’s production usually results in one thing: runaway inflation. Unfortunately, this is precisely what many central banks, including those in Africa, have been doing, leading to currency crises and eventual dollarization.”

“So, to answer the Kenyan President and those asking a similar question, traders between two African countries demand payment in U.S. dollars because they lack confidence in their own or their counterpart’s national currency.

It does not matter how far away they are from the United States; the two traders prefer this because it has a stable value, at least when compared with their respective national currencies.”

“While the Kenyan leader has gone as far as to plead with traders to use local currencies, several African countries have banned the use of foreign currency in domestic transactions. However, this approach has often not translated into the increased local currency use. Instead, it has driven traders underground, harming local economies.”

@ Newshounds News™

Read more:  Bitcoin

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Judge Fines Ripple $125M, Bans Future Securities Law Violations in Long-Running SEC Case

“A federal judge ordered Ripple to pay $125 million in civil penalties and imposed an injunction against future securities law violations on Wednesday.”

“District Judge Analisa Torres, of the Southern District of New York, imposed the fine after finding that 1,278 institutional sale transactions by Ripple violated securities law, leading to the fine. 

The $125.035 million fine is well below the $1 billion in disgorgement and prejudgment interest and $900 million in civil penalty the SEC sought.”

“The SEC tried unsuccessfully to appeal that portion of the ruling while the case was ongoing.”

“The injunction document requires Ripple to file a registration statement if it intends to sell any securities. The SEC is likely to appeal the July 2023 ruling now that the judge has imposed a sentence, after the same judge denied the SEC’s motion for an interlocutory appeal last year.”

“The SEC and Ripple settled charges tied to CEO Brad Garlinghouse and other executives after that interlocutory appeal was denied.

The price of XRP rose 3 cents, or around 2%, after the judgement was published.”

@ Newshounds News™

Read more:  CoinDesk

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Fed Data Shows 9.1% of Credit Card Balances Hit Delinquency Status This Year | PYMNTS

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