Crypto Tokens to Power India’s Native Web Browser

The function is intended to be a component of the national web browser initiative for India

The ability to digitally sign papers using crypto tokens may soon be available to Indian residents. The capability is planned as a component of a mission to enable web3 to a national web browser led by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.

On August 9, the ministry made public the beginning of the Indian Web Browser Development Challenge, which aims to "inspire and empower" programmers from throughout the nation to develop a homegrown web browser with an integrated Controller of Certifying Authorities (CCA) India root certificate.

The statement mentions the capability of employing a crypto token that would be incorporated into the browser to digitally sign documents.

Three rounds will make up the competition: the first round will have a cap of 18 competitors; the second round will have a cap of 8, and the winner will get about 34 million Indian rupees (US$411,000).

In recent months, the Indian government has been aggressive in enforcing regulations, particularly in the IT and cryptocurrency sectors. It backed the Financial Stability Board's suggestions for a global crypto framework and urged for special consideration to be given to developing nations in future rules for crypto while serving as the chair of the G20, an intergovernmental meeting of the 20 largest economies in the world.

A measure to loosen the rules governing Big Tech firms' data compliance was adopted by the lower house of the Indian government in August. Global IT behemoths like Microsoft, Google, and Meta would be able to store, handle, and transfer data more easily under the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill 2023.