Bitget commits fund to bolstering Indian blockchain innovation

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is updating its tax policy such that cryptocurrency-related transfers and conversions will be exempt from value-added tax (VAT).  News of the policy change emerged via the UAE’s Federal Tax Authority (FTA), which published an Arabic version of the updated tax code on Oct. 2, followed by the publication of an English version on Oct. 4.Photo by Darcey Beau on UnsplashExemption backdated to 2018British multinational consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) published a review of the UAE tax code update on Oct. 4. The auditing firm noted that virtual assets are defined within the UAE tax code as a “representation of value that can be digitally traded or converted and can be used for investment purposes.”It noted that Article 42 of the update dealt with the crypto VAT exemption. The firm suggested that entities dealing with crypto should “analyze the impact of the exemption on their (retrospective) VAT position, especially in respect to their input tax recovery,” adding that voluntary disclosures may be required to correct previous tax returns. Additionally, a VAT exemption has been introduced on services extended to fund managers relative to licensed funds. Younis Haji Al Khoori, a UAE Ministry of Finance official, stated that the amendments have been made with a view towards easing the burden on businesses. He stated:“These amendments help minimise misunderstandings, simplify procedures, and ultimately contribute to an improved quality of life for all.”  Crypto-friendlyAbdulla Al Dhaheri, CEO of the Blockchain Center in Abu Dhabi, commented on the development on X, stating:”The UAE, driven by visionary leadership, continues to set the global standard by becoming the number 1 destination for blockchain innovation. With the elimination of VAT on crypto transfers and conversions, the UAE reinforce their commitment to building a world-leading digital economy, attracting the best talent and investment from around the globe.” The UAE, and particularly Dubai and Abu Dhabi, have taken great strides forward in ensuring regulatory clarity for the virtual assets sector over the course of the past two years. Regulatory frameworks have been put in place, leading to many participants in the crypto sector praising the regulatory stance taken within the UAE.  This latest addition has equally being welcomed within the crypto sector. Many crypto sector participants have highlighted it as a wake-up call for other jurisdictions to follow suit or see crypto enterprises move to the UAE.  The Indian authorities, in particular, have an unfavorable tax policy in place relative to digital assets, with a 1% tax deducted at source (TDS) being applied. This latest development in the UAE prompted some to consider if India would learn from the UAE’s example. Earlier this year, the Indonesian tax framework, which subjects crypto assets to both income tax and VAT, was cited as the main reason for a slump in crypto trading. A recently published report by blockchain data platform Chainalysis found that the Middle East & North Africa (MENA) region accounts for 7.5% of crypto trading volume, with the report noting that the UAE, alongside Saudi Arabia, is showing a strong interest in decentralized platforms.

DV8, a Thai company that recently pivoted to become Southeast Asia’s first Bitcoin treasury firm, has carried out an initial capital raise to fund its new strategy. Up until recently, DV8’s business activites were confined to media, innovation and technology. It emerged earlier this month that the company was being acquired by a group of Bitcoin-focused investors.  The consortium includes privately-held Bangkok-headquartered investment firm Kliff Capital, hedge fund manager UTXO Management and Taipei-headquartered crypto-backed venture capital firm Sora Ventures. It also includes Simon Gerovich, the CEO of Metaplanet, Asia’s largest Bitcoin treasury company.Photo by Thought Catalog on UnsplashThai market potentialAt the time, Sora Ventures founder Jason Fang told Decrypt that there is great potential in the Thai market, giving DV8 the potential “to be the next Metaplanet on SET [Stock Exchange of Thailand]." The company recently appointed Chatchaval Jiaravanon as its new chairman. Jiaravanon currently serves as the founder and chairman of Water Asia and Charoen Energy, while independently owning Fortune magazine.  Alongside Jiaravanon, new appointments have also been made to the company’s board as it looks to revamp its leadership team to deal with the challenge of pivoting and pursuing a Bitcoin treasury strategy. Share issuanceA filing with SET on July 16 has revealed that the company has proceeded to raise 241 million baht, equivalent to $7.44 million. In raising this capital, the company issued 301,491,057 new shares. The shares were issued under DV8-W2 warrants with a strike price of 0.80 baht per share. Over the course of the past 12 months, a plethora of corporations around the world have adopted Bitcoin either as a strategic asset to hold on their balance sheets or they’ve taken matters further and followed companies like Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) and Japan’s Metaplanet, with the Bitcoin treasury becoming the central focus of the business. Bitcoin treasury debateThe practice has proven to be controversial with some believing that Michael Saylor’s Strategy has found a workable approach using leveraged debt financing within TradFi to accumulate Bitcoin. Others like short seller Jim Chanos has called the Strategy approach “financial gibberish.” Chanos recently debated Bitcoin investor Pierre Rochard on the subject on The Investor's Podcast. The podcast provoked a discussion on X, with Grok, the AI bot integrated within X, coming down in favor of Rochard’s pro-Strategy argument, prompting Chanos to tell Grok that it was drunk and to stop posting.Aside from those companies that have pivoted entirely to Bitcoin treasury firms, many others who have started to accumulate some Bitcoin have been struggling companies.  Vincent Liu, chief investment officer at Taipei-headquartered Kronos Research said recently that “when struggling firms make sudden moves, it often feels like a short-term stunt or hype play." On the other hand, he added: “When a company builds a BTC treasury with strategy, conviction, and clear communication, it signals strength.” Taking to social media on July 14, Belgian economist and Bitcoin investor Tuur Demeester set out his thoughts on the opportunity that Bitcoin treasury companies are exploiting: “Who else in this world can borrow at below 0.5% interest rates, when real inflation is above 10%? Bitcoin Treasury companies seem to have found, or are creating, a growing hole in a giant dam.”

In Mumbai, users of cryptocurrency exchanges are increasingly being asked to prove they are real people—by moving their eyes or turning their heads in front of a camera—before they can open an account. In Tokyo, meanwhile, exchange operators are collecting a different kind of identity marker: each customer’s country of tax residence, recorded for reporting to authorities at home and abroad. Governments across Asia are tightening oversight of the crypto sector, with India and Japan pursuing parallel efforts to boost compliance, strengthen tax enforcement, and curb financial anonymity. Together, these measures are pushing digital assets closer to conventional financial standards.Photo by Rowan Heuvel on UnsplashIndia mandates biometric-style checksAccording to the Times of India, India’s Financial Intelligence Unit has required crypto exchanges to adopt more stringent know-your-customer (KYC) and anti-money-laundering (AML) procedures, including liveness checks designed to prevent accounts from being created using deepfakes. Under the guidelines, platforms must also record information such as geolocation data, IP addresses, and timestamps during onboarding, and link users to bank accounts through verification steps that include test transactions and government-issued identification like passports or voter IDs. The measures come as tax authorities continue to face obstacles in monitoring crypto activity. India taxes crypto profits at a flat rate of 30% and applies a 1% tax deducted at source (TDS) on transfers. According to a separate report by the Times of India, the Income Tax Department (ITD) told lawmakers that the pseudonymous and cross-border nature of crypto transactions can complicate compliance—particularly when funds move through offshore exchanges, private wallets, or decentralized finance platforms. Despite international information-sharing efforts, officials say tracing crypto holdings across jurisdictions remains challenging when transactions bypass regulated intermediaries. India’s central bank has also continued to argue in favor of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) over privately issued stablecoins. In its December financial stability report, the Reserve Bank of India said CBDCs can offer efficiency and programmability within a sovereign framework, while warning that stablecoins may introduce risks during periods of market stress. Japan implements OECD crypto tax rulesJapan, meanwhile, has moved to formalize international data exchange. On Jan. 1, 2026, it implemented the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF), a standard developed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to address cross-border tax evasion by automating the exchange of crypto transaction data between tax authorities. Under the new rules, users of Japanese crypto exchanges must declare their country—or countries—of tax residence. Exchange operators are required to collect and submit data to Japan’s tax authorities by April 30 of the following year, including transaction volumes, consideration received from purchases and sales, and asset-type breakdowns covering cryptocurrencies as well as security tokens and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Information related to non-resident users is also intended to be shared with relevant foreign tax authorities under existing tax cooperation arrangements. While both nations pursue stricter oversight and transparency, their broader policy trajectories differ. In India, regulatory tightening reinforces a restrictive environment focused on risk containment. In Japan, by contrast, the new compliance frameworks appear to be laying the groundwork for a broader economic embrace of digital assets. Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama, speaking at the Tokyo Stock Exchange last week, framed 2026 as the “inaugural year of digital.” Unlike her Indian counterparts, who remain wary of private crypto assets, Katayama argued that established market infrastructure should play a larger role in adoption. Pointing to the U.S. market, she suggested Japan could move toward exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and integration with stock and commodity exchanges to capture the benefits of blockchain-based assets. This pro-growth shift is reinforced by the prospect of fiscal relief. Tokyo is considering an overhaul that would reclassify crypto gains—currently taxed as miscellaneous income at rates of up to 55%—to a flat 20%, aligning them with stocks. The changes, however, are not expected to take effect until 2028, given the extent of the required legal and regulatory revisions. India, meanwhile, has indicated that it plans to adopt CARF by 2027, suggesting that its current emphasis on domestic controls may eventually be supplemented by deeper international cooperation—bringing offshore crypto activity more firmly into the view of tax authorities.