In February, Singapore-headquartered cryptocurrency exchange platform Bybit, announced the company’s support of a sustainability initiative in India.
In partnership with non-profit organisation, One Tree Planted, Bybit announced its pledge to plant 100,000 fruit trees, as part of the “India 2022: Fruit Trees to Fight Hunger” project, which runs until the end of November.
The initiative aims to create tree nursery jobs for local widowed and elderly women, in order to address social marginalisation and to help bridge the gap between gender inequality. Once planted, the drive is set to generate an income of $10 per tree, per year to support and reforest rural communities.
Head of Communications at Bybit, Igneus Terrenus spoke to FinanceAsia about selecting India as a target market for support. “Crypto’s calling is to give people a chance at financial freedom regardless of status, race, gender or background. The project is a good fit for the communities in need in India, where we can make the most impact per dollar spent.”
Digital asset classification
While India’s Supreme Court lifted its full ban on cryptocurrency trading in March 2020, the market has been eagerly awaiting further update on the government’s proposed Cryptocurrency and and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, which is considered likely to constitute a widescale clampdown on digital trading, and was originally expected by the end of last year.
In February however, at the Union Budget for 2022-2023, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a new tax regime classifying crypto as a digital asset – and crucially, not a currency – which will see a 30% tax imposed on income generated by cryptocurrencies and other digital assets, including non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
Additionally, Sitharaman announced an intention to introduce a digital rupee (CBDC) within the financial year – the government’s first reference to a specific timeframe regarding a potential roll out.
While tweaks may be made to these proposals ahead of the new tax year beginning in April, a move by the government to define cryptocurrency as a taxable, digital asset, paves the way for regulation and acknowledges the continued development of digital dealings, according to market commentators.
India ranked 11th globally in terms of cryptocurrency adoption last year, but has since jolted ahead to second place in Chainalysis’ Global Crypto Adoption Index 2021, ranking second behind Vietnam, and ahead of Pakistan.
Fostering financial inclusion
Terrenus offered FA his take on the market. “Mass crypto adoption in India is driven by a combination of the strength of economy, demographic and technology advancement. Much like its growth-stage crypto market, India’s regulatory regime is going through transformation and consolidation. We are encouraged by the signs of concrete steps being taken by the regulators, and look forward to being part of India’s up-and-coming digital assets market.”
He views the market as offering untapped opportunity, as well as the potential to advance financial inclusion.
“Despite having relatively high account ownership, India claims large shares of the global unbanked population, because of its sheer size. For the underbanked in the developing world and retail investors everywhere, cryptocurrencies have made a material difference — they have enabled small businesses in less connected parts of the world to participate in the global marketplace.”
Terrenus explained that crypto offers alternative access to finance for the underbanked population, who may not have access to major international fiat currencies that are taken for granted in mature markets.
“What [crypto] essentially offers, is an alternative to the conventional models of wealth management, freeing investors from the burdens of untransparent fees, layers of intermediaries, delays and high barriers to entry,” he said.
Project pipeline
Taking a decentralised, “remote-first” approach, the Bybit team does not have employees permanently stationed in India, but has a multi-lingual team dedicated to serving the market. Globally, in 2021, the company recorded an average 24-hour trading volume of nearly $12 billion.
Updating FA on the company's upcoming product pipeline, Terrenus shared, “Bybit will be introducing options trading, MetaTrader 4 and best quality curated NFT collections... At the infrastructure level, we are always fine-tuning our matching engine to optimise the trading experience on our platform. We are also expanding on our security assurance capabilities as we introduce more products and services integrations.”
Elsewhere in Asia, Bybit has partnered with organisations including UNICEF to empower girls’ education through digital learning and STEAM in Vietnam, as well as other educational programme faciliators in East Asia and the Pacific region.
