This is a fantastic initiative by the 
Crypto thoughts in India
Crypto in India is like easy money for many people who are not aware of how this ecosystem work and what crypto is all about. Even now people who are not part of crypto think that it is something like a Ponzi scheme and people can make a lot of money over the night and even they can do the entire money which is also a possibility. Even now I meet a lot of people who talk about crypto because many steam media has played an important role to bring more awareness and because of that most people are aware of it but they are still scared to enter this space.
I feel so surprised when people say that it is illegal and the government is going to ban it etc etc. People who are not well aware of it and do not know the fundamentals followed in crypto and blockchain technology can surely think like this. Even you will be surprised that people who are well educated think the same and that is something not good I hope that in the next few years crypto education should be encouraged more so that people know the basics of crypto.
Crypto State and Journey in India
I started my crypto journey in 2019 and it's been over three years which is surely a good amount of time. During these 10 years or one thing has been common that comment is going to ban crypto so stay away from it and if I count the number of people who told me the same then this can be quite a long list. Currently in India crypto is neither illegal nor legal however we have got the tax guidelines this year and as part of this, we can trade or hold crypto assets. Any income generated from the trade or hold of crypto assets will be part of the taxation and we need to pay a flat 30% tax on the income generated by crypto assets.
When I started my journey in crypto at that time there was no banking support provided and peer-to-peer was the only option to trading crypto which was not easy to use however I started with Steem and now Hive so it was never the priority for me to earn and sell instead I was like learn, earn and build and even now I follow the same after completing 3 years.
Things have never been smooth here in India and it was like a roller coaster ride where we get to hear a lot of rumors from the media and sometimes from the RBI which was making life difficult for many investors and traders in the country. We Indians are very good at adopting new technology and that is why even now crypto is not an integrated state also we have got a bunch of exchanges offering nice products and services which can benefit the community but they are not getting the support that they should get from the banks and authorities.
I think that this is because the government is not encouraging it and that is why banks are also kind of against the crypto which is not good and should not happen at all but we can't help with this situation in the country.
Challenges
there have been many challenges and even now we are almost in the same place below are some of the points I would like to mention here-
- Government and authorities are not clearing their stand whether they want to accept it or reject it and they are taking more time than it's required. It is a bottleneck in the growth of the crypto segment in the country whereas many other countries are doing pretty well and somewhere we are lacking in this race.
- Awareness is another area where we need to work on because we cannot expect more people to be part of it unless they are aware of this industry. Since the government is not in support as of now so it is difficult for the exchanges to run any initiative that can educate the users and investors because of various logistics/operational issues.
- we have taxation in place but this is on the very higher side (no slab and flat 30%) and that too despite bringing the tax for the investor's government has not done anything to make it easy for the traders and even banks creating many issues. Exchanges are not able to get the proper banking support which is why they are unable to provide instant deposits or withdrawals and almost every exchange is struggling in this area as of now.
- there should be an easy infrastructure and mechanism that can bring convenience to the new traders so that they can earn money and whatever they are they should pay applicable taxes to the government but unfortunately this has not happened and even we are not sure whether it will happen soon or not.
Crypto Future in India
we can't deny the fact crypto has a better future and if a favorable atmosphere is provided then India can lead the way in this segment because we are the ones who adopt new things. India has made crypto exchanges unicorns even when there are many challenges including the lack of regulations and a supportive environment by the government and authorities. Millions of users have joined the segment and the growth has been significant during the last bull run so just imagine if things are streamlined then where we can reach and this also can contribute to the development and growth of the Indian economy at scale. Indian exchanges are capable enough to provide good volume in trading as well as many innovative services including lending, margin trading, SIP etc, and that too using the fiat currency.
Conclusion
as part of the crypto community, I expect the government to be supportive so that people can work in the crypto space and generate a good income so that they can also pay the applicable taxes to the authority. There should be no rumor or any kind of two actions that can make things difficult for the people to work. I do not expect the crypto to be one of the instruments that I can use to buy good services and considering it as I said is good enough I think. If we can work on a share market where shares are not tradeable against the good sense services then similarly we can also use the crypto in the same manner and I don't think this is a big deal for the government but it is a lack of intention I believe. I'm not sure whether things will be improving in the coming months and years but the current environment is not good however it is not going to affect my journey because I know that bitcoin is decentralized I know the government can ban it however they can surely bring some rules to stop easy access. I started my cripple journey when there are a lot of negativity so now I am quite used to it and such news does not affect me much. Countries like Dubai and USA are doing pretty well then why can't India be in the league to prove that we are not against innovation and the revolution of technology?
Thank you so much
Stay Safe