IndiaTech Requests FM Nirmala Sitharaman For Clarity on Crypto Taxation; Bitcoin, Ethereum Fall

In a recent development of India's crypto world; IndiaTech, an industry association representing consumer internet start-ups, wrote to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, requesting clarity on crypto taxation in the Union Budget 2022-23. IndiaTech represents all the leading cryptocurrency exchanges like CoinSwitch Kuber, WazirX and CoinDCX.

IndiaTech has appealed to the government to tweak existing tax laws to include crypto assets, and requested further clarification on the method of taxation and their disclosures. 

"While the bill on crypto maybe still in progress, the budget should address the tax and related issues quickly to ensure that there is clarity before the financial year ends and for the upcoming years as well. Ideally notifications from Finance Ministry around taxation and GST council around GST will help clear the confusion for both crypto exchanges as well as investors," Rameesh Kailasam, president and chief executive of IndiaTech, told Outlook Money. 

The global crypto market capitalisation of cryptocurrencies crossed $2.01 trillion and decreased by 1.44 per cent over the last day. The price of Bitcoin (BTC) was down by 1.28 per cent and was trading at $42,329.77 in the last 24 hours. Bitcoin dominance in the global crypto market was 40.00 per cent, up by 0.05 per cent in the last 24 hours. 

Ethereum's (ETH) price fell by 3.93 per cent in the last 24 hours, and it was trading at $3,235.87. Binance Coin (BNB) was in the red, down by 2.34 per cent; it was trading at $453.47. Among other major coins, Solana (SOL) fell by 5.84 per cent to $139.90, while Cardano (ADA) was up by 1.23 per cent to $1.23.

Meme Coins  

All major meme coins such as Dogecoin (DOGE), Shiba Inu (SHIB), Dogelon Mars (ELON), and Samoyedcoin (SAMO) have shown a minimal change in the last 24 hours. 

On January 7, 2022, Dogecoin's price was $0.1566, down by 0.23 per cent in the last 24 hours. Rival Shiba Inu was down by 0.50 per cent and was trading at $0.00002966, Dogelon Mars (ELON) was up by 0.45 per cent and was trading at $0.000001331, while Samoyedcoin (SAMO) was trading at $0.03117 and recorded a fall of 6.20 per cent. 

Top Gainers And Losers 

GovWorld (GOV) became the biggest gainer, recording a rise of 1663.01 per cent; it was trading at $0.2815 at 5 pm. On the other hand, Escrowed Illuvium (SILV) witnessed maximum loss, falling 86.01 per cent; it was trading at $0.9819.

 Latest Update  

Mozilla, the non-profit organisation behind the Firefox web browser, has announced to cease taking cryptocurrency donations.

"Starting today, we are reviewing if and how our current policy on crypto donations fits with our climate goals. And as we conduct our review, we will pause the ability to donate cryptocurrency," Mozilla tweeted late on Thursday.

GameStop shares climbed more than 22 per cent in extended trading Thursday after The Wall Street Journal reported the retailer plans to create a marketplace for non-fungible tokens, often called NFTs.