Budget 2026 Can Make India a Crypto Hub: Sumit Gupta’s Vision Hints

Can Budget 2026 Shift India From Global Crypto Adopter to Crypto Hub?

Can Budget 2026 finally fix India’s toughest pain points around digital asset taxation and make the country a true global leader in this fast-growing sector? The loud voice of the industry has been heard even as pre-budget consultations have begun.

Budget 2026 Brings Crypto Regulation Back into the Limelight

With the Indian government encouraging public suggestions for the Union Budget 2026-27, Sumit Gupta, the CEO of CoinDCX, has advised the government to reconsider the current taxation structure. He has expressed his views on the matter through official X account, where he called Budget 2026 a ‘reset opportunity’ for the country to solidify its position at the global level.

Source: Official X

Explaining Lower TDS, Fair Taxes, and Investor Protection

Proposals: The three proposed changes are being focused on by his ideas for improvement.

TDS rate cut: Gupta has demanded that the TDS rate for cryptocurrencies in India be lowered from 1% to 0.01% for all exchanges. His view suggests that Indian exchanges will become more transparent to the governing bodies when the TDS rate is lowered to encourage more trade activity from domestic exchanges.

Fair Taxes with Income Slab: The second proposal is to align the flat rate of 30% for capital gains tax with income tax slabs. At present, people with lower earnings and top earners are charged the same rate, thus impacting tax equity. The proposal to make the system slab-based in 2026 might help genuine wealth generation, combined with revenue management.

Investor Protection: The third reform relates to facilitating loss set-off. Loss set-off against other income is a common phenomenon worldwide. Failure to do so puts Indian investors at a disadvantage compared to investments in other asset classes.

What CoinDCX Data Reveals About Market Reality

To further support the government’s data-driven approach to policy making, Neeraj Khandelwal, co-founder of CoinDCX, presented the Transparency Report for the month of December 2025. 

Source: X (formerly Twitter)

The exchange currently supports more than 21 million users, has already paid out ₹13.10 crore in TDS, and holds a reserve of $502.63 million under proof of reserves. The value of the Crypto Investor Protection Fund is currently at ₹55.54 crore.

Will Budget 2026 Support India to Become a Crypto King?

India is already first in the adoption index, and the number of people participating in crypto SIPs rose by virtually 60% in 2025. Those in support of the crypto-systems argue basic smart reforms in the 2026 Budget will allow the country to reduce the number of grey operations and be taken seriously as an innovative hub.

Conclusion

The Budget for 2026 presents a pivotal point in time for India. By having more tax justice and transparency, the government will be able to trigger growth while ensuring that the users are protected. Once these changes happen, India will finally be able to increase its status in the international community and will be much closer to becoming what can be termed a real power in digital assets.

Disclaimer: Although this article is for informational and educational purposes only and not for investment or other financial products advice, it is necessary to state that investments in cryptocurrency assets involve extremely high risk.