NEW DELHI: After the FTX fiasco, the cryptocurrency industry is in focus again as the world’s largest crypto exchange Binance’s founder-CEO Changpeng Zhao has stepped down after pleading guilty to breaking US anti-money laundering laws.
This will impact Indian investors since many investors have moved on to foreign exchanges such as Binance to trade, post-tax implementation.
Sumit Gupta, Co-founder & CEO, CoinDCX said the larger crypto ecosystem is not just about trading and what happens at centralized exchanges across the globe. It is imperative to acknowledge the resilience exhibited by the web3 and virtual digital assets industry.
“The Web3 and blockchain space continues to grow tremendously and there has been a wide-scale adoption amongst many Web2 companies now of the underlying technology as well. The dynamic nature of this space means it will continue to evolve, with a steadfast commitment to innovation, compliance, and overall sustainability,” he said.
Recently, Esya Centre in its report said the current crypto tax structure may lead to a loss of Rs 99.3 lakh crore of local exchange trade volume in the next four years. Trade volume of around Rs 32,000 crore was shifted from domestic VDA exchanges to foreign ones during February-October 2022, it said.
“Recent developments deliver a resounding message to the entire crypto industry: compliance is now a top priority. This signals a significant shift, indicating that while the technology has matured, the obstacles are gradually being overcome,” Neeraj Khandelwal, Co-founder CoinDCX & Okto, said.
On X, Changpeng Zhao said, “Today, I stepped down as CEO of Binance. Admittedly, it was not easy to let go emotionally. But I know it is the right thing to do. I made mistakes, and I must take responsibility. This is best for our community, for Binance, and for myself.”
When Binance first launched, it did not have compliance controls adequate for the company that it was quickly becoming, and it should have. Binance grew at an extremely fast pace globally, in a new and evolving industry that was in the early stages of regulation, and Binance made misguided decisions along the way. Today, Binance takes responsibility for this past chapter, the exchange said in a statement.