A YouTuber started traveling the world to see whether he could survive solely on Bitcoin (BTC) as a means of payment. In the latest episode of Cointelegraph’s “Crypto Stories” series, Paco from India explained how he started his journey from the city of Bengaluru and learned from the example of travel pioneers who came before him, including Nellie Bly, who circumnavigated the globe in the late 19th century in less than 73 days. Paco worked a variety of jobs before reading up on Bitcoin and made a big decision. “This is 2021,” said Paco. “I will travel the world by …

In discussion with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), T Rabi Sankar, the deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), reflected an anti-crypto stance as he spoke about India’s potential to disrupt the crypto and blockchain ecosystem. Rabi Sankar started the conversation by highlighting the success of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), India’s in-house fiat-based peer-to-peer payments system, which has seen an average adoption and transaction growth of 160% per anum over the last five years. “One of the reasons it is so successful is because it’s simple,” he added while comparing UPI’s growth with blockchain technology. According to …

Following its initial foray into the nonfungible token (NFT) space with the Adidas for Prada re-source project in partnership with digital artist Zach Lieberman and SuperRare, iconic fashion brand Prada has now announced its first independent NFT collection accompanying the Prada Timecapsule. An online event hosted on the first Thursday of every month, Prada Timecapsule has, since December 2019, opened up exclusive access to clothing items on its website for 24 hours. Drop #30 in this series will be coupled with an NFT. According to Prada, the asset’s design will be “decorated with Cassius Hirst’s signature mask and brain scan …

India’s Department of Economic Affairs is finalizing a consultation paper on cryptocurrencies, which will then be handed over to the federal government. The implementation of the document could bring the country of 14 billion people closer to the international regulatory consensus on digital assets. On Monday, during an event hosted by the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Economic Affairs Secretary Ajay Seth revealed that his department is finishing the work on the consultation paper, which would define the nation’s stance on crypto. The document was crafted in cooperation with industry stakeholders, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Seth …

Further cementing India’s decision to introduce an in-house central bank digital currency (CBDC) in 2022-23, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) proposed a three-step graded approach for rolling out CBDC “with little or no disruption” to the traditional financial system. In February, while discussing the budget for 2022, Indian finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman spoke about the launch of a digital rupee to provide a “big boost” to the digital economy. In the annual report released on Friday by India’s central bank, RBI revealed exploring the pros and cons of introducing a CBDC. In the report, RBI stressed the need for …

Excitement for the Metaverse and virtual/augmented reality (VR/AR) is much greater in developing countries than in high-income countries, according to a survey conducted for the World Economic Forum (WEF). Market research firm Ipsos released the results of the survey on Wednesday, showing the concept is now widely recognized: 52% of more than 21,000 adults surveyed across 29 countries are familiar with the Metaverse and 50% have positive feelings about engaging with it in daily life. China, India, Peru, Saudi Arabia and Colombia were the top five countries where two-thirds or more of respondents said they had positive feelings toward it. …

Indian crypto businesses are struggling with the new tax policies as trading volumes have dried up and many established crypto firms are looking to relocate to more crypto-friendly jurisdictions. While many developed countries and even several of its Asian counterparts are actively studying and formulating better crypto regulations, the Indian government has maintained a “blockchain, not crypto” stance. It might seem like the government is taking a cautionary step to focus on the underlying technology while keeping its distance from the volatile and risky crypto market. However, going by the recent policies and statements from the finance minister as well …

Officials from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) have reportedly sounded the alarm bells again over crypto adoption, which they claim will ultimately lead to the “dollarization” of the local economy. According to a Monday report from the Indian branch of the Economic Times — which cited unnamed sources — the RBI’s concerns are focused on U.S. dollar-dominated cryptocurrencies taking away market share from the Indian rupee. The publication notes that RBI officials, along with its governor Shaktikanta Das, provided a briefing to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance this week. In it, they took a very skeptical stance toward …

Just three days after debuting in the Indian market, United States-based crypto exchange Coinbase abruptly stopped using United Payments Interface (UPI), the most popular payment service in the region. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong later revealed that the service disruption was due to an “informal pressure” from India’s central bank. During Coinbase’s 2022 Quarterly Earnings call, Armstrong spoke about the company’s global expansion plans while acknowledging Coinbase’s role in starting the conversation with regulators related to crypto adoption. When asked about the impact of the recent disruption related to offering payment services in India, Armstrong stated: “So a few days after …

The National Securities Depository (NSDL), India’s central securities depository based in Mumbai, launched blockchain-based security and covenant monitoring platform. NSDL officially launched the distributed ledger technology (DLT) platform on Saturday during its 25th-anniversary presentation, alongside the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). The platform is expected to strengthen the monitoring of security and governance in the corporate bonds market to bring “further discipline and transparency to the market.” SEBI chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch underscored the blockchain’s transparency as the key reason for the technology’s popularity but made a reservation regarding its current cost-effectiveness, remarkin that the anonymity feature remains …

The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-in), which falls under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, issued a new directive on Thursday, forcing crypto exchanges, virtual private network (VPN) providers and data centers to store a wide range of user data for up to five years. Under the newly issued directive, crypto exchanges operating in India will be required to store customers’ names, ownership patterns, contact information and various other data. Crypto exchanges and VPN services providers are also required to report any cyber incident within six hours of its occurrence and must hand over the collected data to …

Crypto exchange Binance announced the parallel launch of three key educational initiatives to fast-track educating Indian investors and students about the cryptocurrency and blockchain ecosystem. While recognizing the importance of investors’ awareness of crypto and blockchain, Binance highlighted that Indian regulators and policymakers cite the lack of education as an area of concern, which currently hinders the widespread adoption of crypto. Primarily targeting the student demographic in India, one of the three educational initiatives launched by Binance involves the initiation of the “Blockchain for Good” ideathon, a platform for college students to come up with solutions for making crypto more …