The Bharat Web3 Association (BWA), an industry body for crypto and Web3 companies, launched an independent self-regulatory body (SRB) for India’s virtual digital asset (VDA) sector on Wednesday, October 28. Rohit Kumar Singh, a retired IAS officer and former Secretary of the Department of Consumer Affairs, chairs it, and Praggya Das, former Adviser-in-Charge of the RBI’s Monetary Policy Department, is a member.
The SRB will issue voluntary guidelines for BWA members on cybersecurity, protection of digital assets and customer data, token listings, consumer protection, grievance redressal, market integrity and marketing. It will review members’ governance and compliance, including anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing controls, and recommend corrective steps. Its guidance is advisory, and it does not replace statutory regulators.
India has no complete legal framework for crypto assets yet. In its 36th report on the proposed Securities Markets Code, 2025, presented in Parliament on July 23, 2026, the Standing Committee on Finance suggested an interim regime run through recognised self-regulatory organisations under a designated regulator. Das said about 75% of VDA investors are aged 18 to 35.
Why it matters: If the government follows the committee’s suggestion and regulates crypto through recognised self-regulatory organisations, exchanges that already belong to a working body would be ready to apply. The weak point is enforcement: the rules apply only to BWA members, and the body can recommend fixes but cannot penalise anyone. The test is whether the largest exchanges accept its compliance reviews and act on them.
Source: Moneycontrol; Outlook Money; Bharat Web3 Association
Image: Satheesh Sankaran from Bangalore, India, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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