Overview
- Chadha called for recognising virtual digital assets, including cryptocurrencies and stablecoins, as an asset class under a clear domestic framework.
- He argued India taxes VDAs at 30% with 1% TDS yet offers no licensing regime, investor safeguards, or dedicated anti-money-laundering rules.
- He proposed a regulatory sandbox with strong AML guardrails to ringfence activity and estimated potential annual tax gains of ₹15,000–₹20,000 crore.
- He cited offshoring trends, including ₹4.8 lakh crore in trading shifting overseas, 73% of volume on foreign exchanges, 180 startups relocating, and 12 crore Indians using overseas platforms.
- Recent Budget 2026 proposals add selfie-based live detection, geo-tracking and new penalties for VDA entities, while no new law or reclassification has been enacted; he also separately urged scrapping LTCG on equities for individual investors.