Bitcoin, explained for India.
Straight answers to the questions Indians actually ask about Bitcoin — no hype, no jargon. For where we think policy should go, see our positions.
Is Bitcoin legal in India?
Yes. Buying, holding, selling, and transferring Bitcoin is legal. It isn't legal tender — no one is obliged to accept it as payment — and there's no dedicated law for it yet, so it sits in a legal grey area, governed mainly through tax and anti-money-laundering rules.
Finance Act 2022; FIU-IND registration regime
Is Bitcoin the same as “crypto”?
No — and the difference matters for policy. Bitcoin has no issuer, no company behind it, and a fixed supply; it behaves more like a digital commodity. “Crypto” spans thousands of tokens, many with issuers, promoters, and very different risks. Lumping them together produces blunt, ill-fitting rules — which is why we argue classification must come before regulation.
How many Indians own Bitcoin?
Honestly, no one knows precisely — there is no official count, and the headline numbers you see (often 100 million or more) are third-party estimates for “crypto” owners broadly, not Bitcoin. What is well established is the scale and direction: India has ranked first in the world for grassroots crypto adoption three years running. Bitcoin is the single largest crypto asset, so it accounts for a meaningful part of that activity — which is exactly why we argue it should be treated on its own terms, not lumped in with every other token. The government tracks the tax, not the people: it has told Parliament that about ₹1,096 crore in TDS was collected on crypto (VDA) transfers over three years to FY2024-25 — but it publishes no count of holders.
Chainalysis Global Crypto Adoption Index (2023–2025); Ministry of Finance, reply in Parliament (Dec 2025)
How is Bitcoin taxed in India?
Gains are taxed at a flat 30% (Section 115BBH), with a 1% tax deducted at source on transfers (Section 194S). Losses can't be set off against other income or carried forward. This regime came in with the Finance Act 2022 and was left unchanged in the Union Budget 2026.
Finance Act 2022; Union Budget 2026 (§115BBH, §194S)
Is Bitcoin banned? Was it ever?
It isn't banned. In 2018 the RBI restricted regulated banks from dealing with crypto businesses; in 2020 the Supreme Court set that restriction aside (Internet and Mobile Association of India v. RBI). Since then India has regulated the space through taxation and reporting, not prohibition.
Supreme Court, IAMAI v. RBI (2020)
Who regulates Bitcoin in India?
There's no single regulator. It's a patchwork today — the income-tax authorities (CBDT) for the VDA tax, and FIU-IND for anti-money-laundering compliance by exchanges — with no dedicated Bitcoin or crypto statute. We've mapped which regulator is the natural fit for each kind of digital asset.
Can I hold my own Bitcoin (self-custody)?
Yes, holding your own Bitcoin is legal. But the right to self-custody isn't positively grounded in law — it exists by default rather than by clear protection. We think that right deserves explicit recognition.
What about the RBI's digital rupee?
The RBI is piloting a central bank digital currency — the digital rupee (e-rupee). A CBDC and Bitcoin are different things: one is sovereign digital cash issued by the central bank, the other an open, decentralised asset. They can coexist and answer different needs.