Crypto is legal to buy, sell and hold in India but it is not legal tender. Gains are taxed at a flat 30% plus 4% cess, 1% TDS is deducted on sales, losses cannot be set off, and exchanges serving Indian users must register with FIU-IND, which had 54 registered providers on 9 March 2026. Below are the key numbers, short answers to the questions Indians ask most, and today's crypto news.
Facts checked 3 Oct 2026 · Page updated 3 Oct 2026, 21:10 UTC · By BCI Research, edited by Gaurav Vyas, founder · How we check facts
On this page: Key numbers · Today's crypto news · Law and regulation · Crypto tax · Buying, selling and withdrawing · Trading · Bitcoin and the market · Sources
The figures people most often need about crypto in India, each with the date it applies to and the guide that explains it.
| Fact | Figure |
|---|---|
| Tax on crypto gains | 30% + 4% cess (31.2%) |
| TDS on crypto sales | 1% above ₹10,000 a year (₹50,000 for specified persons) |
| Set-off of crypto losses | Not allowed |
| FIU-registered VDA service providers | 54 |
| Offshore platforms named for blocking | 53 |
| RBI-approved crypto exchanges | None (the RBI does not licence them) |
| Crypto as legal tender | No (the rupee and the e-rupee are) |
| Minimum order on main Indian apps | About ₹100 |
| Bitcoin left to mine | About 909,000 BTC |
| Next Bitcoin halving | Around mid-April 2028 (block 1,050,000) |
| India's crypto economy | About $135 billion, down 14.7% |
| Cybercrime helpline | 1930 |
The latest stories from our news desk, newest first. Times are UTC (IST is UTC + 5:30).
Yes. Buying, selling and holding crypto is legal in India and it is not banned, but crypto is not legal tender: the law treats it as a taxable virtual digital asset (VDA). Is crypto legal in India?
No dedicated crypto regulator exists in India as of October 2026. Since March 2023, exchanges and other VDA service providers that serve Indian users must register with FIU-IND under the anti-money-laundering law (PMLA); the RBI and SEBI do not licence crypto exchanges. FIU-registered exchanges
None. The RBI does not approve or licence crypto exchanges; the legal test for an exchange serving Indians is FIU-IND registration. RBI approved crypto exchange in India
54 virtual digital asset service providers were registered with FIU-IND as of 9 March 2026, as named in the Government's Lok Sabha answer to Unstarred Question 5805 on 30 March 2026. The same answer lists 53 offshore platforms against which blocking action was taken. The official list of 54
On the official list of 54 (as of 9 March 2026): CoinDCX (#1), Unocoin (#3), Giottus (#5), Bitbns (#6), ZebPay (#7), WazirX (#8), CoinSwitch (#9), Mudrex (#11), Delta Exchange India (#29) and Pi42 (#36), plus offshore KuCoin (#41), Binance (#47), Bybit (#48) and Coinbase (#49). Top 10 crypto exchanges in India
Bitget, MEXC, Kraken, Gate.io, BingX and OKX are not FIU-registered and all six appear on the official list of 53 offshore platforms named for blocking action (30 March 2026). Holding or withdrawing your own funds from them is not a crime. Bitget · MEXC · OKX
No crypto-specific law has been passed as of October 2026. Parliament's Standing Committee on Finance is studying "Virtual Digital Assets and the Way Forward", and the Finance Ministry's Department of Economic Affairs gave oral evidence to it in September 2026. Where India's crypto framework stands
No. The e-rupee (e₹) is the RBI's central bank digital currency: legal tender worth exactly one rupee, a direct liability of the RBI, and not a virtual digital asset for tax. It is still in its pilot phase in 2026. e-rupee vs crypto
A bank account freeze. If the rupees you receive from a P2P buyer turn out to be linked to fraud, your bank account can be frozen, even if you did nothing wrong yourself. P2P trading and bank freezes
A flat 30% plus 4% cess on gains, so 31.2% for most people, whatever your income slab. Surcharge applies only if your total income is above ₹50 lakh, and no expense other than the cost of the coin can be deducted. Crypto tax in India explained · Crypto tax calculator
1% TDS is deducted on crypto sales above ₹10,000 a year, or ₹50,000 where the buyer is a "specified person". It is not an extra tax: you claim it against your crypto tax, and any excess comes back as a refund. 1% TDS explained · Claim a TDS refund
No. A crypto loss cannot be set off against any other income, including gains on other coins, and it cannot be carried forward to later years. How to calculate crypto gains for tax
Yes. A swap is a transfer, so the gain on the coin you gave up is taxed at 30% plus cess, and spending crypto on goods or services is taxed the same way. What is taxed and how
ITR-2 if you hold crypto as an investment, or ITR-3 if it is business income. Every sale, swap or spend goes on its own row in Schedule VDA. Show crypto in Schedule VDA · How to file and pay crypto tax
No, the rules are the same. The Income-tax Act, 2025 replaced the 1961 Act from 1 April 2026 and carries the crypto rules forward: section 194 for the 30% tax and section 393(1) for the 1% TDS (previously sections 115BBH and 194S). Crypto tax in India
Open an account on an FIU-registered exchange, complete KYC with your PAN and Aadhaar, add rupees from your bank account, and place a buy order. The coin then sits in your exchange account until you sell it or move it to your own wallet. How to buy crypto in India · How to buy Bitcoin
No minimum is set by law. Each exchange sets its own minimum order, about ₹100 on the main Indian apps; CoinDCX, for example, sets ₹100 on its INR markets (checked 3 October 2026). Minimum amount to invest · What ₹1,000 buys
CoinDCX scores highest overall in our ranking of 12 apps (7 criteria, no paid placements), followed by Giottus, CoinSwitch, Mudrex and ZebPay (scores of 29 September 2026). The right app depends on whether you want simple rupee buying, low fees or futures. 12 crypto apps ranked · CoinDCX vs CoinSwitch
Sell the crypto for rupees on an FIU-registered exchange, then withdraw the rupees to your verified bank account by IMPS or NEFT; 1% TDS is deducted on the sale. A bank account cannot hold bitcoin directly. How to withdraw crypto to a bank account
Copy the deposit address from the receiving exchange, pick the same network on both sides, add the memo or tag if one is shown, send a small test, then send the rest. A wrong network is the most common way coins go missing. Transfer crypto between exchanges
Call the national cybercrime helpline 1930 at once, then file a complaint on cybercrime.gov.in under "Financial Fraud", and alert the exchange and your bank. Reporting within hours gives the best chance of money being frozen before it moves. How to report a crypto scam · 12 scam red flags
Any time: crypto markets run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, including Indian holidays. Trading is usually most active from 6 pm to 1:30 am IST on weekdays, or about 7 pm to 2:30 am IST after US clocks go back on 1 November 2026. Best time to trade crypto in India
Yes, on FIU-registered platforms, but crypto futures are not regulated by SEBI, so the investor protections that apply to stock futures do not apply. Leverage can wipe out a position quickly. Crypto futures in India: legal and tax · Best futures apps
On Delta Exchange India, BTC options expire at 5:30 pm IST (12:00 UTC); on Deribit they expire at 1:30 pm IST (08:00 UTC).Bitcoin options expiry times · BTC expiry time in India
No Indian law or regulator prohibits individuals from using bots on FIU-registered exchanges as of October 2026; SEBI's 2025 retail algo framework covers stock brokers, not crypto. Give a bot trading permission only, never withdrawal permission. Is algo trading legal in India?
Cryptocurrency is digital money recorded on a blockchain, a shared ledger that no single bank or government controls. Bitcoin, the first, has a fixed limit of 21 million coins. What is cryptocurrency? · What is Bitcoin?
About 909,000 BTC on 1 October 2026, as 95.7% of the 21 million had already been mined. The next halving is expected around mid-April 2028, at block 1,050,000. How many bitcoins are left · Next halving
India's crypto economy shrank by 14.7% to about $135 billion (about ₹12.9 lakh crore) in the twelve months to June 2026, according to a blockchain analytics firm's annual adoption report published on 30 September 2026. India was still the region's biggest market for money flowing into centralised exchanges. India's crypto economy in 2026
The price changes every few seconds, so check a live page rather than a fixed figure: our Bitcoin page shows the live rupee price, converted at the current USD to INR rate. Bitcoin price in INR · All crypto prices today
The legal and tax answers rest on primary sources: the Income-tax Act, 2025 and the Income Tax Act, 1961; the Government's Lok Sabha answer to Unstarred Question 5805 of 30 March 2026, which names the 54 FIU-registered providers and the 53 offshore platforms; FIU-IND notices; and the exchanges' own fee and help pages. Each linked guide shows the date its facts were last checked. We re-check this page whenever a rule or figure changes, and the news list above updates as stories are published.
This page is general information, not financial, legal or tax advice. Crypto prices are volatile and you can lose money. See our risk disclosure.
