Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao recently said that the crypto exchange does not see any visible business in India. He was speaking at the TechCrunch Crypto Conference on November 17. To put it simply, he does not see any clear potential for the crypto market and industry in India. He said, "To be honest, I don't think India is a very crypto-friendly environment." Media reports suggest that several other experts and investors have earlier shared similar worries. None, however, has openly expressed such concerns, with the exception of Zhao. Also operational in India, Binance is the world's largest crypto exchange, with a year-to-date trading volume of $4.953 trillion.
India's high tax environment is one of the primary reasons why the country's crypto market is not so viable for global players, according to TechCrunch. Zhao said, "If you are going to tax 1 percent (TDS) on each transaction, there are not going to be that many transactions." India enforces a tax of 30 percent on crypto gains, irrespective of income slab.
Criticising the government's move to impose such a high tax on crypto transactions, Zhao said, "A user could trade 50 times a day and they will lose like 70 percent of their money." He said "there is not going to be any volume of an order book type of exchange".
As per TechCrunch, he said, "We don't see a visible business in India today. We just have to wait." Zhao said he is already talking to a number of influential people and industry associations about the matter. Zhao said that though he is trying to convey his concerns and message related to the current crypto scenario in India, it takes a long time to change it.
Zhao added, "Binance goes to countries where regulations are pro-crypto and pro-business. We don't go to countries where we won't have a sustainable business or any business, regardless of whether or not we go." Earlier this year, Coinbase launched its crypto platform in India, but it was forced to suspend its services soon after because of regulatory issues.
Coinbase co-founder and CEO Brian Armstrong earlier said that the firm stopped supporting local payments infrastructure UPI "because of some informal pressure from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)."
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