News has it that Facebook is foraying into online remittances and will introduce a tethered digital asset named “Libra” to fuel this system. Libra will be linked with the INR (i.e. the Indian National Rupee) and each Libra will always convert to 1 INR. How will this play with the April 2018 RBI circular that imposed a deRead more
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Introduction With the increasing fanfare around Blockchain technology and the potential it holds for the future, commercial enterprises – Blockchain based and otherwise – are experimenting with paying salaries in cryptocurrency. This initiative broadens the cryptocurrency ecosystem[1] and also helps retain the best tech talent.[2] This post outlines the current cryptocurrency payment ecosystem, industry experienceRead more
On 29th May, 2018, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (“TRAI”) released the draft Telecom Commercial Communication Customer Preference Regulations, 2018 (“Regulations”), aimed to curb the problem of unsolicited commercial communication, or spam, for telecom subscribers. As stated in the accompanying press release, TRAI has chosen to adopt Distributed Ledger Technology (also known as “blockchain”)Read more
What are Virtual Currencies? The concept of virtual currency is perhaps best understood by way of an example. Take Airline Miles, for example, also referred to as frequent flier miles–the more you travel with an airline, the more Airline Miles you accumulate. These can later be redeemed for more tickets. When you redeem yourRead more
The Government’s Position on Cryptocurrency While the novelty factor of cryptocurrency and the blockchain technology has not abated since 2009, Indian regulators have only recently begun evaluating the financial and security risks posed by virtual currencies such as Bitcoin. The Finance Minister, Mr. Arun Jaitley, announced in his 2018 Budget Speech that the government doesRead more
Increasing representation of women in technology domains and startups, and its associated benefits, has become a focal point of discussions surrounding entrepreneurship, borne out by the theme of 8th edition of the annual global entrepreneurship summit, 2017 – ‘women first, prosperity for all’. As part of our efforts to engage with women working in the domain of emerging technology andRead more
TRA provided the following inputs to the Government of Karnataka on its (Draft) Roadmap for Use of Blockchain in Karnataka Government In our view, regulation while explicitly enabling blockchain adoption should remain technology-neutral. In other words, the regulation should not be tied to blockchain technology, and should not require amendments to adapt to new technology thatRead more
The 2018 budget featured a number of announcements that may be of interest to anyone engaged with the technology sector or the startup ecosystem. This note takes a look at some of these announcements in order to identify how the business environment may be impacted by the 2018 Budget Economic Growth in the last year:Read more