Should we start worrying about news of a ‘cabinet note’ proposing a crypto ban in India? What is a cabinet note? How soon will this cabinet note turn into a law? Can the ban be introduced as a money bill or in the upcoming monsoon session of the Parliament? A. Introduction: In November 2017, anRead more
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Central banks across the world have started exploring Central Bank Digital Currency (“CBDC”). In a recent survey by the Bank of International Settlements[1], 80% of the 66 banks surveyed were engaged in research and pilot projects related to CBDC, including Canada,[2] USA[3] and Singapore[4]. In fact, as of May, 2020 China has started testing itsRead more
In this webinar, we discussed the intricacies of strategic litigation in the emerging tech sector. Nakul Dewan, Senior Advocate – who successfully challenged RBI’s circular banning cryptocurrency in the Supreme Court; and Vrinda Bhandari – the advocate who is fighting to bring 4G internet back to J&K through a P.I.L, express their take on strategicRead more
Anirudh Rastogi, Managing Partner at Ikigai Law was in conversation with Mriganka Pattnaik, CEO at Merkle Science on a webinar on 11 May 2020. Merkle, a Singapore-based company, is a pioneer in blockchain forensics and due diligence tools used by law enforcement agencies, regulators, crypto-exchanges, banks and funds to monitor and mitigate AML/CFT risk. TheRead more
Cryptocurrencies, or digital currencies secured using encryption techniques, have seized the imagination of a motley crew of anti-capitalists, financial experts and computer scientists. At the same time, cryptocurrencies operate outside the purview of central banks and have created a regulatory conundrum for governments. Regulation of this digital currency in Africa has been varied, with someRead more
On 6th April 2018, an RBI circular prohibited all entities regulated by the RBI from dealing in Virtual Currencies (“VCs”) or providing services for facilitating any person or entity in dealing with or settling VCs. Such services include maintaining accounts, registering, trading, settling, clearing, giving loans against virtual tokens, accepting them as collateral, opening accountsRead more
Ikigai Law’s Tanya Sadana explains the policies issues around Cryptocurrencies in India at MediaNama’s #NAMA Bootcamp on Cryptocurrencies held in New Delhi. Ikigai Law represents leading crypto-exchanges in the Supreme Court challenging the RBI directive banning banking access to these exchanges.
1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 An initial exchange offering(“IEO”) is a crowdfunding mechanism which, for the large part is similar to an initial coin offering (“ICO”) but for certain reasons is considered an improvement over it. Prime amongst these is that an exchange serves as a trusted intermediary between the token sellers[1] and the buyers. This meansRead more
What is the document? The Strategic Hub for Innovation and Financial Technology (“Staff”) of the Securities and Exchanges Commission (“SEC”) recently released a Framework for ‘Investment Contract’ Analysis of Digital Assets (“Framework” or “Document”)[1]. These are essentially guidelines to assess whether an investment into a digital asset (which, per the document includes any asset whichRead more
What was promised? In November 2018, The US Securities and Exchanges Commission (“SEC”) promised to come out with a ‘plain English’ guidance for developers who wished to undertake their own token offerings[1] (‘token’ is used to indicate a cryptocurrency, crypto-asset or a digital asset; these terms are used interchangeably here, strictly for the purposes ofRead more