Member of Parliament (MP) and AAP leader Raghav Chadha has urged the Centre to legalise virtual digital assets (VDAs) such as cryptocurrency and stablecoins. Speaking during Budget discussion in the Upper House of Parliament on 9 February, Chadha said that the Union government should take steps to build a compliance framework for VDAs and then heavily regulate the sector.  “ The need of the hour is to build a compliance framework for cryptos and heavily regulate these VDAs… This will bring INR 15,000 Cr to INR 20,000 Cr into the government’s coffers. We currently tax these digital assets as if they are legal, but we regulate them as if they are illegal… Prohibition isn’t protection, regulation is protection,” said Chadha.  Chadha flagged that India, despite de facto legalised taxation for cryptos, did not recognise VDAs as an asset class. Making his point, he further added that the country lacked dedicated licencing laws for virtual assets and customer protection frameworks for crypto investors.  Due to this heavy taxation regime, the AAP MP claimed, INR 4.8 Lakh Cr worth of trade in VDAs had moved to offshore platforms. He also claimed that 180 local crypto startups moved overseas to Singapore and the…  ​Read MoreInc42 Media

Smart wearables startup GoBoult is planning to file a draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) by October or November 2026 with the aim of listing on public bourses by the summer of 2027, cofounder Varun Gupta told Inc42.  “We have started the IPO process already. We had three major objectives before we go for an IPO and we have achieved those. We also wanted to rebrand before an IPO because the risk appetite to rebrand afterwards is much higher. We have done that now, so we are all set and are looking at a summer 2027 listing,” he said.  For context, GoBoult rebranded from Boult in August 2025 to position itself as a younger and more upmarket brand in anticipation of its public listing. However, it was reported at the time that the company was facing copyright infringement accusations from its competitor boAt, which might have influenced this decision. Important to note that boAt is also currently in the process of going public.  On the financial front, Gupta shared that the startup is targeting achieving a revenue of  ₹1,000 Cr for FY26. He is also projecting another 15-20% growth in revenue in…  ​Read MoreInc42 Media