India's crypto policy in 2025 leans toward regulated legitimacy: Not legal tender, but legal to hold/trade via FIU-registered exchanges with KYC/AML compliance. 30% tax on gains + 1% TDS persists; SEBI oversees security-like tokens since April. RBI's Digital Rupee advances; global shifts prompt review for innovation & stability.
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Environmental issues like Bitcoin mining's massive energy use (173 TWh in 2020-21, rivaling nations' totals) and carbon emissions (86 Mt, akin to burning 84B lbs coal) have not been fully priced in. Despite regulatory actions (e.g., China's 2021 ban, NY's moratorium), BTC prices remain volatile, driven by speculation, with minimal sustained discounts for sustainability risks amid ongoing fossil fuel reliance (67% of energy).
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Signs of cryptocurrency market manipulation, including wash trading and money laundering, have increased in 2025. Chainalysis reports a steady rise in active wash trading addresses from Jan-Jun 2024, with $142M in suspected volume in Jan alone, and overall illicit crypto activity up 25% annually since 2020. Laundering hit $40B in 2024, with infrastructure growing 40% by 2023. Recent cases include OKX's $500M+ fine for AML failures and Gotbit's 8-month sentence for wash schemes. Regulators seized $25M+ in wash trading fraud, amid rising professionalization of illicit networks.
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