India's evolving crypto landscape holds 'patient potential': ZebPay COO 

India ranks among the world’s largest retail crypto adopters, with a young, tech-forward population and a thriving digital economy, but the country seems to be sitting on the fence when it comes to institutional money. The reason: India’s evolving regulations around crypto and a tax framework are still finding a balance. “India’s story is one of patient potential rather than absence,” Raj Karkara, chief operating officer (COO) at crypto exchange ZebPay, said in an interaction with Fortune India. 

However, once there’s more clarity on compliance, taxation, and investor protection, the country could enter the institutional mainstream. Karkara says it will not just bring capital, but also innovation, scale, and global influence to the digital asset industry. “Combined with India’s G20 role leadership in global crypto policy, these developments point toward a more structured and enabling framework.” 

The ZebPay COO says institutional money will start flowing as the regulatory landscape becomes clearer. “With reports around the government preparing to release its first crypto discussion paper, this paper will likely explore practical use cases and the benefits of blockchain, stablecoins, and CBDCs, raising optimism across the ecosystem.” 

Beyond India, the U.S., which is leading the crypto space globally with pro-innovation and pro-industry initiatives, has seen a massive inflow of institutional money. In August alone, its net inflows stood at $4.37 billion, bringing the year-to-date figure to $35.5 billion, and total assets under management at $219 billion. 

Heavyweights like BlackRock, Invesco, and Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy), already a major Bitcoin holder, are betting big on crypto ETFs, now viewed as a legitimate, strategic investment category.

On what the U.S. crypto ETF boom signals about mainstream acceptance globally, Karkara says, driven by the landmark approval of spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs and a surge of institutional capital, the crypto ETFs have become a defining moment for mainstream adoption of digital assets. 

The U.S. Digital Assets Report, which was released in July 2025, outlines a unified federal strategy, endorses stablecoin oversight through initiatives like the GENIUS Act, and affirms individuals’ rights to hold and transact digital assets. It is seen as a significant milestone not just for the U.S., but also for the global crypto ecosystem as it signals a move toward clearer, more structured regulation. “The U.S. is setting a precedent that other markets are likely to study or emulate.” 

India's potential in the global crypto space 

In India, crypto as an asset class is under the PMLA, though it remains "unregulated". "The regulatory evolution is a journey. The move itself was a progressive step, bringing exchanges under formal compliance frameworks like KYC and AML. This, in fact, has helped strengthen investor protection and market integrity," says Karkara.

Crypto assets are taxed at 30% in the country, apart from 1% TDS on transfers of funds and applicable GST on services, which places India among the countries with the highest tax when it comes to crypto. Is India risking a talent and capital exodus? Karkara says what matters is that India’s crypto ecosystem and Web3 space are steadily evolving, carving a path toward earning the trust that will shape policy in the long run. "India holds the talent, technology, and determination to build thriving global crypto ecosystems." 

ZebPay's innovation, compliance strategy in India 

Despite countries like the U.S. betting big on crypto, India's crypto landscape is evolving, albeit at a slow pace. Karkara says the company's goal for India is to build products that "simplify, empower, and elevate" the digital asset users. "With CryptoPacks, we’ve taken the complexity out of portfolio building, offering curated bundles of crypto assets, such as Layer 1, Solana Ecosystem, and Ultimate Alts of Tomorrow," says Karkara.

On the trading front, ZebPay's Perpetual Futures claims to deliver speed, flexibility, and scale with up to 75x leverage, instant settlements, and advanced technical analysis tools, helping traders unlock greater potential from their capital. The ZebPay COO says the company has also taken steps to simplify crypto tax filings and establish a regulatory‑compliant framework by partnering with TaxNodes and ClearTax.