Crypto Regulation India: What’s Allowed, What’s Banned, and How Indians Are Still Trading

When it comes to crypto regulation India, the legal framework governing cryptocurrency use, trading, and taxation in India. Also known as Indian crypto laws, it’s a mix of strict warnings, heavy taxes, and quiet acceptance. The Reserve Bank of India never banned crypto outright, but it scared banks away from serving crypto businesses for years. That changed in 2020 when the Supreme Court overturned the banking ban—but the government didn’t stop pushing back. Today, crypto isn’t illegal in India, but it’s not recognized as legal tender either. You can buy Bitcoin, trade on exchanges, and hold Ethereum, but the government treats it like property—taxable, trackable, and tightly monitored.

One of the biggest shifts came in 2022, when India slapped a 30% tax on crypto gains and added a 1% TDS on every trade. That’s higher than most countries charge on stocks. It sent a clear message: Bitcoin India, the most widely held cryptocurrency in the country, used for savings, remittances, and speculation isn’t welcome as money, but it’s tolerated as an asset. Meanwhile, crypto exchange India, platforms like WazirX, CoinDCX, and ZebPay that let users buy and sell digital assets had to comply with KYC rules, report user data to tax authorities, and freeze accounts if suspicious activity popped up. Some smaller platforms shut down. Others adapted. And users? They kept trading—using peer-to-peer apps, foreign exchanges, and even cash deals to avoid the tax net.

Why does this matter? Because India has one of the largest crypto user bases in the world—over 100 million people, according to Chainalysis. Most aren’t day traders. They’re students, gig workers, and small business owners using crypto to send money home, protect savings from inflation, or invest in something outside the banking system. The government talks about a cryptocurrency ban India, a proposed law that would make holding or trading crypto illegal, with possible jail time, but it hasn’t passed. Not because it’s unpopular—it’s widely supported by officials—but because the scale of adoption makes enforcement nearly impossible. People aren’t waiting for permission. They’re already using crypto. The real question isn’t whether crypto will be banned. It’s whether India will ever catch up to how its people are already using it.

What you’ll find below are real, up-to-date breakdowns of how crypto works in India right now—the exchanges people trust, the loopholes they use, the taxes they pay, and the risks they take. No theory. No guesswork. Just what’s happening on the ground.