An iconic 77-year-old Indian brand, Jetking, once renowned for manufacturing radios and televisions, is now making waves in the crypto world. This dramatic shift comes despite the stringent tax regulations on cryptocurrency in India.
Jetking, which later ventured into IT education, faced a significant setback during the COVID-19 pandemic, seeing their 200 centers across the nation suffer from dwindling business. This compelled the leadership to brainstorm about 15 different strategies for rejuvenation of the company.
Ultimately, they made a bold decision: to morph into a company focusing on Bitcoin. Jetking’s CFO, Siddarth Bharwani, in a conversation with Coinpedia, revealed, “Jetking’s decision to hold Bitcoin as a treasury asset has had both symbolic and financial implications, The move sparked interest from a new class of investors, particularly younger or tech-savvy retail investors.” The company has set an ambitious goal of holding 210 Bitcoins by the end of 2025.
Despite the challenging 30% tax on crypto profits in India, Jetking has adopted a unique approach. They follow a ‘Never Sell Bitcoin’ strategy, thereby not realizing profits on its Bitcoin holdings and avoiding taxable events. Any changes in value are simply recorded as revaluation reserves in the financial reports.
Addressing the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) concerns about the possibility of crypto being utilized for illicit cross-border transfers, Jetking asserts that it prioritizes compliance. All Bitcoin purchases are made through regulated, FIU-registered exchanges and are stored with institutional-grade custodians that adhere to KYC and AML checks.
As India is in the process of formulating a formal set of crypto regulations, Jetking is hopeful of more balanced rules. The company supports governmental oversight but wishes for a transition from the flat 30% tax to a graded capital gains model based on the duration of crypto holdings.
