CZ asks India to adopt innovation as rupee falls to record low against U.S. dollar

The Indian rupee (INR), this week, dropped to a record low of 88.4425 against the U.S. dollar amid the ongoing tariff tensions originating from the U.S. While Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and U.S. President Donald Trump have indicated optimism on trade negotiations, the ground situation remains stressed for the time being. In response to India’s slipping rupee, Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) posted a suggestion to Asia’s third largest economy on social media.

The news of the rupee having registered its lowest ever price against the US dollar made it to the headlines on September 11. The news, that has been wildly circulating on social media, managed to grab the attention of CZ, one of most influential voices in the global crypto industry.

Reposting the update on X, the crypto mogul told India that the adoption innovation is the best way to improve the economy.

“Protectionism is always at the expense of the people, ie, the economy,” 48-year-old billionaire, who is presently acting as a crypto advisor to countries like the UAE, Malaysia, and Pakistan said in his statement

While India has repeatedly topped the Chainalysis index of the world’s fastest crypto adoption for three years in a row, the sector there is showing a slow growth owing to a lack of clear and comprehensive regulations.

CZ’s suggestion subtly hints that the world’s most populated nation must explore the next leg of financial development through technologies like digital assets.

From industry players to the judicial system — the call for a thorough crypto regime in India have grown louder recent times. However, a recent document from the Reserve Bank of India has reportedly indicated that the country may not be leaning towards creating a regulatory framework dedicated to the crypto sector.

As reported by Reuters, the RBI document says that regulating crypto would grant them “legitimacy” in India, and “may cause the sector to become systemic” and that the Apex bank alone will not be able to contain the risks of these volatile assets. The Finance Ministry, headed by Nirmala Sitharaman has neither confirmed nor denied the report citing RBI’s stance so far.

The country’s crypto circle, however, responded to the report by demanding crypto and stablecoin regulations urgently.

The UAE, the EU, and now the U.S. have taken serious efforts to regulate the $4 trillion dollar sector — leading to a spike in the overall market value.

As far as India is concerned, since its G20 Presidency between 2022-2023, the country has been calling for a global cooperation in drafting internationally uniform laws to oversee the crypto sector.

Last month, a finance panel backed by the Indian government reportedly said that it would conduct a detailed examination of the digital assets industry. A similar claim was made by government officials in July 2024 that had said that the finance ministry was preparing a crypto discussion paper to define its stance on the sector. There has been no concrete update on this paper so far.

While the buying, selling, trading, and holding of crypto assets is permitted in the country, industry players seek industrial benefits, tax rebates, and legal protection in order to push for more development and experimentation around crypto and Web3.

In 2022, the finance ministry in India announced a tax of 30 percent on crypto income and a one percent TDS reduction at each step of the transaction — to maintain a trail of the largely private crypto transactions. While the stakeholders of the industry have repeatedly urged for a revision of this tax rate, the authorities have held steady on the exiting regime.

Despite the lack of regulatory clarity, crypto majors including Binance and Coinbase have registered with India’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) to operate within compliance with India’s anti-money laundering and counter terror financing requirements.