Mukesh Ambani, CEO and Managing Director of Reliance Industries may soon enter the crypto space in India with JioCoin. Since Polygon Labs, Reliance’s Web3 partner announced their collaboration on the 15 January2025, social media has been abuzz with expectations. However, so far Reliance hasn’t released any official statement regarding JioCoins or any other crypto offerings 2025.
JioCoin, as per initial reports, is a rewards-based token, built on Ethereum’s layer 2 blockchain, resembling rewards or tokens that users can earn by interacting with Jio’s platforms.
If true, however, this marks the conglomerate’s first-ever foray into the decentralized digital token space that has been facing regulatory hurdles and controversies in India. Sandeep Nailwal, founder of Polygon, termed the move “a significant step forward for web3 adoption in India.”
Reliance Jio’s @JioBrowser is already giving users access to one of the most exciting uses cases — incentivizing users for surfing the internet.
turning attention > rewards through a native wallet integration powered by Polygon pic.twitter.com/o9XfWeTd7h
— Polygon (※,※) (@0xPolygon) January 22, 2025
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Users Can Be Rewarded JioCoins By Browsing Internet Through JioBrowser
Polygon Labs provided an interesting use case scenario for the JioCoin token. They suggested that users can be rewarded JioCoins by browsing the internet through JioBrowser. Basically, incentivising users to earn tokens just by surfing the internet within Jio’s ecosystem.
JioCoins might just be what India needs to double down on crypto adoption. Jio is massive in India with 450+ million users and combining Jio’s massive reach with Polygon’s Layer 2 solutions offers fast and cost-effective transactions in India.
The tokens users accumulate surfing the web will be stored in their Polygon Labs wallet. The value of these tokens will depend on user engagement. We might just see apps like MyJio, JioCinema and more soon start to support JioCoins.
It could also potentially set the stage for other major companies to offer their own corporate-backed tokens.
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Crypto Adoption And Regulatory Hurdles In India
Esya Centre, a Delhi-based think tank, in a recently published report, states that Indians are more likely to use offshore platforms to avoid high taxes levied on blockchain tokens. As per their report, Indian activity on offshore platforms has shot up 77% between January to October 2024. Some users have even migrated to non-compliant exchanges by using VPNs to circumvent restrictions.
There is still hope though. 82% of the Indian users would seemingly return to domestic exchanges if the TDS (Tax Deducted at Source) is fixed at 0.01%. However, the reality on ground is that the centre levies 1% TDS on the transfer of digital assets exceeding INR 50,000. Not only that, but there is also another 30% tax on gains, trading cryptocurrencies.
The RBI and SEBI will be monitoring JioCoins closely. However, it yet remains to be seen whether these tokens will be classified as taxable assets or something else entirely.
India’s upcoming budget, however, is unlikely to make any announcement to ease these crypto adoption hurdles. So far, no significant discussions have come out of India’s policy corridors regarding the regulation of this sector. The country currently is committed to following the global regulatory frameworks.
The country has decided to chart its own path to develop a crypto framework and not to get swayed by the growing adoption of crypto and digital assets globally. It is currently waiting for its upcoming crypto regulation consultation paper. A panel led by Secretary of the Department of Economic Affairs Ajay Singh is expected to release the paper by March 2025. The whitepaper seeks feedback from various stakeholders to develop a regulatory framework for digital assets in India.
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The post India Curiously Optimistic About JioCoin Amidst High Taxation appeared first on 99Bitcoins.
