Have to wait till mid-April to see impact of crypto tax, says WazirX’s Nischal Shetty

moneycontrol.com:

April could be a decisive month for cryptocurrencies in India as income from the transfer of any virtual digital asset will be taxed at the rate of 30 percent beginning April 1. From investors to crypto exchange founders, everyone is waiting to see how the proposal put forward in the Budget 2022 plays out.

WazirX CEO and co-founder Nischal Shetty has said March has been a good month for cryptos but the impact of the new tax will only be apparent half-way through April.

In a Tokenomics chat on CNBC-TV18 on March 29, the chief of India’s leading crypto exchange shared his outlook for digital currencies in March and what lies ahead after the government confirmed its tax stand on virtual digital assets. Here are the highlights of Shetty's conversation:

Outlook in March and expectations for April

Shetty noted that cryptos have had “a lot of ups and downs” in 2022.

“Not only specific to India only but on a global level where January and February we still saw the markets go lower. Surprisingly in March, crypto has slowly and steadily picked up—bitcoin price is increasing, the market cap now back to the over $2 trillion range and it is holding up and at least in the last few days it has held up well,” he said.

Shetty added that volumes in India have gone up, with March seeing at least 20-30 percent higher volumes compared to February.

“Having said that, globally we are going still stronger. We now have to see how the India story plays out. I think a couple of weeks into April it will be more clearer whether this (crypto taxes) will impact the industry or whether people will still trade and not worry too much about the changes,” he added.

Despite ups and downs, has international acceptance still been strong?

Shetty was emphatic that