A group of Indian blockchain influencers with expertise in trading, NFT, Metaverse, cybercrime, etc. recently announced the formation of the India Blockchain Forum (IBF). The advocacy group will adopt a collaboration model and work with regulators, government, industry, and research institutes.
IBF has adopted a 10-point agenda that includes building an India Blockchain Stack, accelerating the startup ecosystem, supporting blockchain technology companies, and creating a talent pool for sustainable growth of the Blockchain ecosystem.
The pool of influencers with domain expertise in different blockchain areas will be used to form special interest groups (SIGs) such as on CBDC, metaverse, and policy framework. The forum will soon launch a membership drive with a mission to create the a large Web 3.0 community.
Meanwhile in China, the Metaverse development plan requires various municipalities to track NFT technology trends and integrate the Metaverse into education and tourism. The Beijing municipal government already announced a two-year (2022–2024) Metaverse innovation and development plan that would require all districts to adhere to the newly released Web 3.0 innovation plan.
This demands that various districts build technological infrastructure at a city level and promote its use in various fields, including education and tourism. The development programme would see the integration of technical means such as 3D visualisation and Geographic Information System to build a visual urban space digital platform and appropriately advance the layout of digital native intelligent infrastructure.
The launch of the India-focused blockchain advocacy forum assumes significance given the growing popularity of cryptocurrencies on the one hand and the stringent approach of the regulators and the governments on the other.
Recently, the Indian financial crime investigating agency, the Directorate of Enforcement (ED), froze the bank accounts of WazirX and Vaud on money laundering charges.
Starting from 1 April 2022, India has begun levying a hefty 30% capital gains tax and and from 1 July, a 1% tax deduction at source for all crypto transactions. These moves have severely impacted the trading volume.
The metaverse development action plan has also instructed districts and municipalities to offer financial and human resource support to build a virtual reality. The Beijing municipal government also demanded tracking nonfungible token (NFT) technology trends and exploring regulatory sandbox programmes to support innovation.
Over the past couple of months, two major cities in China have announced multi-year action plans with the metaverse and NFTs in focus. The rising interest of the Chinese government towards leading Web 3.0 technologies could lead to wider adoption in the country, quite similar to its central bank digital currency (CBDC), which is used by millions in the pilot phase itself.
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