Changpeng Zhao, the CEO of Binance, has publicly stated his disapproval of India’s harsh tax laws and his belief that the country is now not a sustainable business climate for his exchange.
According to the CEO of Binance, India is not yet a feasible location for his crypto ventures. At a TechCrunch cryptocurrency conference, the CEO indicated: “To be honest, I don’t think India is a very crypto-friendly environment.”
India’s strict cryptocurrency tax policy, which the government put into place months ago in 2022, is mentioned by Changpeng Zhao. Nirmala Sitharaman, the finance minister, levied a 30% tax on capital gains across all cryptocurrency transaction earnings.
In order for the government to maintain track of such cryptocurrency transactions, the tax law additionally requires taxpayers to pay a 1% tax deducted at source on each transaction individually. The CEO of Binance stated: “If you are going to tax 1% on each transaction, there is not going to be that many transactions.” He went on to say: “A user could trade 50 times a day and they will lose like 70% of their money. There is not going to be any volume for an order book type of exchange. So we don’t see a viable business in India today. All we can do is wait. We are attempting to present some reasoning in our conversations with various business groups and key individuals.”
Zhao has already spoken on the taxation of crypto in India, suggesting that the country’s high taxes on cryptocurrency transactions could bring about the industry’s collapse. The government has come under fire for choosing to levy capital gains and transactions rather than enact thorough regulation to control the industry. Although it has chosen to view cryptocurrencies somewhat harshly, the government has welcomed blockchain. The Reserve Bank of India revealed plans to introduce the digital rupee, a CBDC – Central Bank Digital Currency.