Crypto Regulation in India: Where the Rules Actually Stand

India's approach to virtual digital assets has been to tax first and regulate later. For anyone holding, trading or building, that produces a specific set of practical obligations and a larger set of unanswered questions.

What is settled

• Gains on virtual digital assets are taxed at a flat rate, with no set-off of losses against other income.
• A tax deducted at source applies on transfers above a threshold.
• Exchanges operating in India carry anti-money-laundering reporting obligations.

What is not

• A comprehensive licensing regime for exchanges and custodians.
• Consumer redress when a platform fails.
• Treatment of decentralised protocols with no identifiable operator.

Being taxed is not the same as being protected.

Nothing here is investment advice. Digital assets carry a real risk of total loss.