India Warms Up To VDAs, Crypto: Major Exchanges Including Binance To Meet Parliament Panel
India's Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance is set to hold discussions with major cryptocurrency exchanges including Binance, WazirX and ZebPay on Tuesday as lawmakers intensify efforts to shape the country's long-awaited digital asset regulatory framework.
The meeting, chaired by BJP MP Bhartruhari Mahtab, forms part of the committee's ongoing study titled “Virtual Digital Assets (VDAs) and Way Forward,” according to multiple reports and parliamentary tracking documents. Officials from the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Corporate Affairs and the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) are also expected to participate.
The consultations come at a critical moment for India's crypto industry, which remains one of the world's fastest-growing retail digital asset markets despite high taxation and continued regulatory uncertainty.
India currently imposes a 30% tax on crypto trading gains along with a 1% tax deducted at source on transactions, measures that industry executives say have pushed significant trading activity offshore.
Lawmakers are expected to focus discussions on taxation, compliance, anti-money laundering standards, offshore trading flows and investor protection, according to crypto industry reports.
The meeting also signals growing engagement between Indian policymakers and crypto industry participants after years of regulatory ambiguity. While India has tightened oversight through anti-money laundering reporting rules and registration requirements, the government has yet to introduce comprehensive legislation governing cryptocurrencies or tokenized assets.
The presence of Binance is particularly significant given its complex regulatory history in India. The global exchange previously faced scrutiny from India's Financial Intelligence Unit over compliance with anti-money laundering rules and had briefly been removed from Indian app stores before re-entering the market after registration and penalties.
WazirX's participation is also likely to draw attention following past operational and restructuring challenges linked to regulatory scrutiny and cyber-related issues.
Industry executives say the parliamentary consultations could shape the next phase of India's crypto policy, especially as regulators globally move toward clearer rules on stablecoins, digital asset exchanges and blockchain-based financial infrastructure.
Crypto investors and startups have long argued that clearer regulations could unlock institutional participation and reduce uncertainty for one of the largest digital asset user bases in the world.