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The wealthiest state in India, Maharashtra, is formulating policies to tokenize state government assets (including power transmission infrastructure), with the funds raised to be used for constructing new transmission lines and energy storage facilities. The Chief Minister's Chief Economic Advisor and CEO of the Maharashtra Transformation Institute (MITRA), Praveen Pardeshi, introduced this plan at an invitation-only event called "The Box Launch," hosted by the real estate tokenization company RealX and MST Blockchain at the Mumbai World Trade Center.Pardeshi stated that transmission lines could be partially tokenized, for example, 40% to 50%, allowing investors holding tokens to receive a portion of the revenue from Maharashtra Transco. The new funds generated from token sales could be used to build more transmission lines and solar energy storage centers. He pointed out that the state currently has a significant surplus of solar power but lacks the grid capacity to deliver it to where it is needed; distribution companies must pay high prices of 16 to 18 rupees per unit during peak hours, while the price during surplus periods on the power exchange is only 2 paise per unit.He also illustrated the practice of real estate tokenization with the example of the Mumbai Express Towers commercial building tokenized under a REIT structure, emphasizing that tokenization does not equate to privatization but rather allows more citizens to participate in the development activities of public asset creation. Additionally, the state is drafting the Maharashtra Digital and Land Token Asset Trading Act (DELTA Act), which, if passed, will make it the first state in India to legislate for blockchain-based property tokenization.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) announced on Thursday that three issuers raised a total of 102.5 million rupees (approximately 10.72 million USD) through its Demat 2 pilot program by issuing tokenized corporate bonds. This pilot utilizes distributed ledger technology to issue, hold, and settle corporate bonds.REC Ltd. was the first to issue on September 7, raising 50 million rupees (approximately 5.23 million USD) from 18 investors; L&T Ltd. raised a similar amount from 4 investors on September 9, and IIFL raised 25 million rupees (approximately 2.6 million USD) from 1 investor on the same day. SEBI stated that the pilot infrastructure records corporate bonds in the form of native digital tokens on a distributed ledger owned by the depository and achieves atomic settlement of bonds and funds through a unified market interface connected to the Reserve Bank of India’s wholesale central bank digital currency.This mechanism can reduce settlement risks arising from the separation of securities and funds transfer, allowing issuers to receive funds on the same day as the bidding, whereas the existing process typically takes two to three days. The regulator noted that the information of bondholders on the shared ledger is instantly visible to all authorized entities, and at maturity, e₹ payments will go directly into the bondholders' central bank digital currency wallets. SEBI clarified that this pilot does not create a new category of corporate bonds; tokenized bonds retain the same ISIN, issuer obligations, coupon, maturity, covenants, ratings, and investor rights as traditional paperless bonds. The pilot will be implemented in three phases, with the first phase covering institutional issuance, while secondary trading and retail access will be conducted in subsequent phases within SEBI's regulatory sandbox.

The Central Bank of Russia and the Reserve Bank of India are collaborating to establish a mechanism for settling bilateral trade using digital currencies to improve the efficiency of cross-border payments. Russia has launched the digital ruble, and India's digital currency is also used for government projects.Both parties will discuss digital currency trade settlement with BRICS countries at the summit in New Delhi.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) launched the Demat 2 pilot this week, issuing corporate bonds in the form of digital tokens on a distributed ledger operated by regulated market institutions, and settling through the wholesale digital rupee of the Reserve Bank of India. The size of India's corporate bond market is approximately $620 billion.The state-owned power financing institution REC raised ₹50 billion (approximately $56 million) through this system, engineering and construction giant Larsen & Toubro refinanced ₹50 billion, and non-banking financial institution IIFL Finance raised ₹2.5 billion (approximately $2.8 million), totaling around ₹102.5 billion. The bonds retain fixed interest rates, maturity dates, and investor rights, but the tokenized bonds can be settled simultaneously with the digital rupees used for purchase, thereby reducing transaction risk.Subsequent phases will introduce smart contracts to handle corporate actions such as interest payments and redemptions, and there are plans to open secondary market trading, ultimately allowing retail investors to participate. India maintains a cautious attitude towards private cryptocurrencies, and this pilot is an attempt to introduce tokenization into its controlled financial system.

The Kremlin stated that Russia will discuss trade settlements using digital currencies with BRICS+ partners at the summit in India.

Arya.ag, an agricultural warehousing and loan company in India, is testing a system for tokenizing warehouse receipts for stored grains on the Avalanche dedicated Layer 1 blockchain. Arya.ag is collaborating with Finternet to connect grain storage, warehouse receipts, collateral commitments, and loan statuses through this network. Devika Mittal, head of Ava Labs India, stated that the testing is underway, with each tokenized warehouse receipt representing ownership of the stored goods.Sanmesh Kalyanpur, a director at Finternet Labs, mentioned that Arya.ag's samplers collect information on stored grains and input it into the company portal. Finternet will integrate farmers, commodities, warehouses, and insurance information into a "composite token" for banks to assess collateral risks. Arya.ag stores approximately $2 billion worth of agricultural products in its warehouse network and supports loans of about 120 billion Indian Rupees (approximately $1.26 billion) annually, with its loan department, Arya Dhan, disbursing around $230 million in loans each year.The concept of Finternet originated from a 2024 paper by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), co-authored by Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani and then-BIS General Manager Agustín Carstens, proposing the establishment of an interconnected unified ledger for tokenized assets. In 2024, the Indian government launched a 10 billion Rupee credit guarantee scheme to encourage financing against electronic transferable warehouse receipts. The two companies have not disclosed the expected launch date or initial deployment scale.

The Financial Intelligence Unit of India (FIU-IND) issued non-compliance notices to 15 offshore virtual digital asset service providers under Article 13 of the Anti-Money Laundering Act, including Weex, Blofin, Rezorex, Bitunix, DigiFinex, Toobit, XT.com, Latoken, WOO X, Pionex, ChangeNow, SimpleSwap, Fixedfloat, WhiteBIT, and Guardarian. These platforms are accused of providing services to Indian users without registering with FIU-IND.Since March 2023, India has included cryptocurrency platforms in the same anti-money laundering regulatory framework as banks, requiring any platform serving Indian customers, regardless of whether they have an office in India, to complete registration and fulfill user verification, record-keeping, and suspicious transaction reporting obligations. FIU-IND also warned the public that cryptocurrency products and NFTs are unregulated and carry extremely high risks, and related trading losses may not be eligible for regulatory relief.This action comes amid reports of Indian users converting stablecoins like USDT into gift cards through platforms in Sweden, Germany, and Singapore to purchase groceries, fuel, and gold in India. Previously, FIU-IND had issued notices to nine major offshore exchanges, including Binance, Kraken, and KuCoin, in December 2023, after which Binance completed its registration and paid a fine of 1.882 billion rupees.

Indian AI infrastructure company AM Intelligence has ordered 9,000 sets of NVIDIA Vera Rubin systems, planning to deploy them in southern India next year. The company's clients include large cloud service providers, AI laboratories, and institutions developing local AI models.

According to Reuters, India plans to issue its first tokenized bond in September, issued by the state-owned power financing company REC, with an issuance scale expected to be below 5 billion rupees (approximately 57 million USD). Indian market regulators and the central bank are jointly promoting the relevant pilot project, and the bond issuance and settlement will utilize blockchain technology.Sources say that the product is expected to be launched during the annual fintech conference in Mumbai in September, initially targeting a limited number of investors. Investors will participate through wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) wallets and electronic securities wallets. Indian depository institutions are developing an electronic wallet named DEMT 2 to record bond holdings via a distributed ledger.The initial term of the bond is three months, and subsequent trading will be limited to participants who simultaneously hold compatible CBDC and securities wallets. A secondary market for tokenized bonds is expected to form by December, and it will not be traded on traditional electronic trading platforms.

According to Bloomberg, Prosus NV plans to invest $100 million in Indian fintech company Navi Ltd., marking Navi's first introduction of institutional capital. This round of investment requires regulatory approval, including from the Competition Commission of India, to be completed.Navi is headquartered in Bangalore and operates in payments, credit, insurance, and mutual funds. Its UPI payment application ranked fourth in India by scale for the fiscal year ending in March; its subsidiary Navi Finserv has surpassed an asset management scale of approximately 130 billion rupees.

According to market news, Ant Group plans to sell 3% of its shares in the Indian digital payment and fintech company Paytm for $309 million.

According to Jinshi reports, Saudi Arabian television reported that the Houthi armed group used a drone boat loaded with explosives this morning to attack an Indian vessel heading to the port of Mukha in Yemen, causing the ship to sink.

According to the Economic Times of India, the Indian Central Board of Direct Taxes has revised the global tax reporting framework, expanding the scope of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act and the Common Reporting Standard to include specific crypto assets, central bank digital currencies, and digital currency products, while tightening the due diligence requirements for financial institutions.The updated compliance framework provides guidelines for banks, mutual funds, insurance companies, custodians, and other investment entities on account identification, tax residency verification, and financial information reporting. Financial institutions are also required to conduct enhanced due diligence on high-value accounts with balances exceeding $1 million.

According to Jinshi reports, Apple's annual sales in India have surpassed $10 billion for the first time.

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) of India dismantled the dark web drug network Team Kalki. Binance and the Data Security Council of India (DSCI) provided blockchain analysis and wallet tracking to assist investigators in tracing cryptocurrency flows, identifying associated wallets, and freezing relevant crypto assets.Investigators stated that Team Kalki used the encrypted communication platform Session, the dark web forum Dread, and "dead drop" delivery methods to distribute drugs from international suppliers. Law enforcement seized thousands of drugs from domestic and international packages associated with the network. S.B. Seker, head of Binance Asia Pacific, stated that the transparent infrastructure of blockchain enables law enforcement to more effectively track and investigate illegal transactions. Binance CEO Richard Teng posted on X that Binance and DSCI are assisting the NCB in combating this dark web drug network by tracking on-chain fund flows.

According to FinanceFeeds, the Indian Parliament's Standing Committee on Finance has recommended that the government establish a temporary regulatory mechanism led by recognized Self-Regulatory Organizations (SROs) to oversee the domestic cryptocurrency and virtual digital asset market. The committee warned that the lack of a clear legal framework exposes millions of retail investors to operational, custodial, and fraud risks.The SRO will implement standardized codes of conduct under the direct supervision of the Reserve Bank of India or the Securities and Exchange Board of India, covering consumer protection, platform transparency, and token disclosure standards, and will be responsible for auditing exchange reserves, mandating the segregation of customer funds from corporate funds, and establishing user complaint handling channels. The committee emphasized that the temporary SRO must operate under strict oversight from the central bank or the securities regulator to address macroeconomic risks such as cross-border capital flows, dollarization of stablecoins, tax evasion, and violations of foreign exchange management laws.

On July 18 to 19, the Bangalore branch of the Indian Enforcement Directorate conducted raids at multiple locations involved in a virtual asset over-the-counter trading scam targeting overseas investors, based on the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).The criminal gang claimed to supply tokens such as MultiversX, Kava, BEAM, GRASS, SUI, VANA, and AGLD at discounted prices through private social channels, thereby enticing foreign investors to invest funds. The total amount involved in the case is approximately $35 million, initially reported by a Dutch entity.This operation has seized electronic devices, wallet credentials, and cryptocurrency assets worth 8,700 USDT. Law enforcement agencies are continuing to expand leads and dig deeper into the complete criminal chain.

According to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, the state is advancing the drafting of the "Maharashtra Land Token Asset Digitalization and Exchange Bill (DELTA Act)." Fadnavis chaired a related meeting, instructing officials to study global laws and regulations as well as best practices, and established an expert committee composed of representatives from SEBI, BSE, NSE, and professionals to formulate a complete legislative framework.According to the proposal, real estate will be tokenized through blockchain technology, with the entire transaction completed on-chain. This move aims to unlock the potential value of real estate, create new sources of revenue, and help Maharashtra achieve its goal of a $1 trillion GDP by 2030. If the legislation is implemented, Maharashtra will become the first state in India to introduce such regulations.

According to monitoring by Catcher Predict, in the Polymarket event "ODI Series England vs India," the winning probability of the option "England" has experienced significant fluctuations, dropping sharply from 76.5% an hour ago to the current 61.5% (a fluctuation of 15%). Please note the impact of related breaking news.