India will soon introduce a faster trade settlement mechanism for its stock market to improve competitiveness against investors’ growing inclination toward crypto exchanges.

On March 11, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Chair Madhabi Puri Buch announced its plan to introduce a T+0 trade settlement cycle by March 28. The service is optional for traders and specifically caters to those looking for same-day settlement.

The Indian stock market has been operating on a T+1 settlement cycle since 2021, which implies that all stock trades are settled the following day. Similar to T + 0, the T + 1 settlement cycle was introduced in a phased manner.

According to Buch, transitioning to T+0 is essential for the Indian stock market to compete with cryptocurrencies. She believes that investors expect instantaneous settlements, and if a “well-regulated market cannot compete with the crypto world” in the near future, then investors will move to a space that already offers it.

According to SEBI, T+0 and the instant settlement cycle will bring advantages like instant receipt of funds and securities to the investor. Also, same-day settlements will eliminate the risk of any settlement shortage and give the investor greater control over funds and securities to the investor.

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Recently, the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) — an agency of India’s Ministry of Finance that gathers financial intelligence about offenses under the country’s Prevention of Money Laundering Act — issued a notice of noncompliance.

Binance, HTX, Kraken, Gate.io, KuCoin, Bitstamp, MEXC Global, Bittrex and Bitfinex received the notices for illegally operating in India on Dec. 28, 2023. The exchanges were given 12 days to comply with Indian Know Your Customer and Anti-Money Laundering regulations.

Despite showing a consistent cold shoulder to crypto, India continues to adopt blockchain technology across various nationwide initiatives. The country recently revealed that it hosts over eight million government-issued documents over five different blockchain platforms.

India primarily uses three blockchain platforms to develop the products: Hyperledger Fabric, Hyperledger Sawtooth and Ethereum. The five blockchain products currently used in India are certificate chain, document chain, drug logistics chain, judiciary chain and property chain.

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