Explained: BWA’s ‘Cybersecurity and Fair-Trading Guidelines’ for VASPs in India

The Bharat Web3 Association (BWA), a non-governmental crypto body comprising industry stakeholders, has released detailed guidelines to promote safe business practices for Web3 service providers in India. Chaired by former FICCI Secretary General Dilip Chenoy, the BWA unveiled two comprehensive sets of guidelines this week, focusing on ensuring secure and equitable service offerings. These guidelines are primarily aimed at Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs).

On January 7, the BWA unveiled its "Cybersecurity and Fair-Trading Guidelines," emphasising the importance of ethical, transparent, and compliant operations for Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs). These directives aim to integrate robust risk management solutions, enhancing financial safeguards for India's investor community.

VASPs in India have been given until June 2025 to align their operations with these guidelines.

Highlights from BWA's Fair-Trading Guidelines

The BWA insists that VASPs should be vigilant against unethical trading practices and market manipulation tactics to ensure the financial safety of the traders. The Web3 body claimed that the directives have been curated to align with Indian regulations and international best practices.

The BWA has directed its members to provide customers with transparent information regarding asset listings, market prices, and trading rules. VASPs have also been instructed to implement measures for detecting activities such as wash trading, insider trading, and pump-and-dump schemes. Additionally, the BWA encourages initiatives to educate investors on safe trading practices.

The guidelines further mandate that unauthorized employees of Web3 firms must be restricted from accessing sensitive or non-public information related to user orders or trades. The practice of 'front-running' is explicitly prohibited. Front-running occurs when an entity leverages insider knowledge of an upcoming transaction to execute trades ahead of it, exploiting anticipated market movements.

Key Points from Cybersecurity Guidelines

The BWA stated that the rules have been put together to help VASPs protect their integrity, security, and confidentiality amid rising number of hacks and scams.

These guidelines have encouraged VASPs to educate users on secure practices while ensuring the overall security and compliance of their business and operations.

The documents details BWA-approved security testing practices for asset custody services and exchange platforms. They dive deep into safe customer data protection practices which include making the investor community aware about market dos and don'ts.

India's Stance on Crypto Laws

The government hasn't set a specific timeline to finalise laws to oversee the Web3 sector, as per information shared in December 2024 by Minister of State (MoS) Finance Pankaj Chaudhary.

In India, crypto gains are currently taxed at 30 percent. Crypto firms intending to operate in the country must register with the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) and comply with anti-money laundering regulations. Additionally, all exchanges are required to collect Know Your Customer (KYC) details from their users.

Amid ongoing discussions on formal crypto regulations, the BWA has been proactively implementing self-regulatory measures for its member firms.

In December last year, the BWA announced a new ‘ABCD' initiative that focussed on Web3 security. Meanwhile in April 2024, the BWA had laid down self-regulatory rules on token listings for exchanges.

Cryptocurrency is an unregulated digital currency, not a legal tender and subject to market risks. The information provided in the article is not intended to be and does not constitute financial advice, trading advice or any other advice or recommendation of any sort offered or endorsed by NDTV. NDTV shall not be responsible for any loss arising from any investment based on any perceived recommendation, forecast or any other information contained in the article.