The securities regulator of India, SEBI – Securities and Exchange Board of India, has signed the approval for the first Exchange-Traded Fund that invests in crypto firms.
The fund has its investment cut across different companies in the crypto ecosystem, including, Bitfarms, MicroStrategy, SBI Holdings, and Coinbase. Over the past year, the fund has increased by 89.52%.
Recently, CoinShares acquired the ETF arm of the fintech company dedicated to building infrastructure for digital assets trading for institutional investors based in London, Elwood Technologies. Both the entities have now collaborated to launch a new ETF called Invesco Elwood Global Blockchain Exchange-Traded Fund.
This ETF approval in India becomes the first of its kind in the country, though the stance of the country on crypto regulation and legislation is not clear yet. While the government officials and lawmakers have debated the issue for a long time, it is looking evident that the country will have clear and comprehensive crypto legislation very soon.
The Stance of India on Cryptocurrency
Investors in the digital assets space have taken the approval of India’s first ETF as a positive sign for the viability of cryptocurrency in the country. Though the Indian government is sitting on the fence on matters related to crypto, the youth have been extremely enthusiastic about the space and have been investing heavily. In the past 12 months, the market in India has seen a massive growth of up to 641%.
A recent update on the regulation topic shows that cryptocurrencies might be classified as commodities in the country. At the same time, the Central Bank of India is currently working on its CBDC and could have its trials out in town starting next month.
Another thing that pointed at a positive crypto regulation in India is the effort of the government to prohibit irresponsible ads on cryptocurrency to reduce the vulnerability of its citizens to scams. It was also revealed that the Prime Minister, Modi Narendra, is having a meeting with several stakeholders in the space, including local crypto exchanges like CoinDCX and WazirX, this week.
The presence of many startups in the space has made the industry a flourishing one as investment capitals are pouring in. A report issued by WazirX and NASSCOM (National Association of Software and Services Companies) estimated the value of the crypto-tech industry in the country to hit $241 million in 2030.
