India Establishes New Crypto Advocacy Body

Key Insights:

• Polygon and Coinbase collaborate with India to form Bharat Web3 Association (BWA).
• BWA is an advocacy body that will help India expand its frontiers in crypto and blockchain adoption
• Hike, and Biconomy, are among the crypto platforms that have joined BWA. 

Polygon and Coinbase joined the Indian industry body,  Bharat Web3 Association (BWA). They formed the India-based industry body to promote dialogue between key stakeholders and drive web3 awareness. 

Top crypto exchanges that have joined the newly formed Bharat Web3 Association are CoinDCX, CoinSwitch Kuber, and WazirX. Other crypto firms that have joined the body include Hike, Biconomy, ZebPay, and Tax Nodes. 

The advocacy body was formed after IAMAI canceled the Blockchain and Crypto Assets council four months ago.

India Seeks Web3 Development

Before the unveiling of BWA, Nana Murugesan had led the Coinbase executives to India, where they are discussing with key ministers. 

Nana said, “ India’s web3 potential in terms of talent, investment and innovation is revolutionary. The potential will surely make the nation a global leader in this fast-emerging field.” 

She adds, “we (Coinbase) support the BWA’s mission of boosting the web 3.0 ecosystem through shareholder collaboration—thought leadership and education.” 

Furthermore, she emphasized the need to build a robust infrastructure and design favorable environments. Such an environment and infrastructure will allow players like Coinbase to expand their service. 

Similarly, Sandeep Nailwal, the co-founder of Polygon, also released a statement. He said, “ India is poised to become a leader in the Web3 space”  He added, “India entrepreneurs have already made a mark in the ecosystem and are innovating for the world…BWA will be pivotal in helping India achieve its potential as a global web3 leader.” 

The Bharat Web3 Association (BWA) is expected to enforce standard principles for the web3 industry. The industry body will also help to nurture India’s talent pool and serve as the scout for tech giants.

It is interesting to know that the country is currently a “hot cake.” Several investors and industry players have been lobbying to engage NITI Aayog. They are the highest public policy organ of their government.

Insider reports showed that NITI Aayog has steered clear and resisted getting involved with the crypto industry. 

You would recall that Coinbase attempted to launch its platform earlier this year in India. It, however, rolled back the launch after the Indian regulatory body raised some concerns. 

Conclusion

Industry players undoubtedly consider India a hostile environment for cryptocurrency and blockchain technologies.

This has prompted several talents to move outside of India. Similarly, several growing startups and entrepreneurs have switched to foreign markets to serve customers.  

It is, therefore, intriguing how Coinbase and Polygon spearheaded the launch of India’s Bharat Web3 Association (BWA).