Pi42 Revolutionizes Crypto Trading in India with INR-Based Futures and FIU Compliance

The Indian crypto landscape has been a rollercoaster of high volatility, regulatory ambiguity, and complex taxation. While "spot" trading (buying and holding coins) became popular during the 2017 bull run, advanced traders have long sought more sophisticated tools to manage risk and capitalize on market movements. However, foreign exchanges often come with the risk of non-compliance and difficult withdrawal processes.

Enter Avinash Shekhar, the Founder of Pi42. A Chartered Accountant by training and the former CEO of ZebPay, Shekhar is a veteran of the Indian crypto ecosystem. With Pi42, he has launched India’s first **Crypto-to-INR Futures Trading Platform**. By offering up to 75x leverage, long and short positions, and a fully compliant FIU-IND registered framework, Pi42 is bridging the gap between traditional finance and the decentralized future.

The Basics: Understanding Crypto Futures and Leverage

For the uninitiated, the world of futures trading can be daunting. Shekhar breaks it down simply: In a "spot" market, you buy a coin and own the delivery. In "futures," you trade on the price movement without taking delivery of the underlying asset.

This allows for two powerful strategies:

• Long/Short: You can profit whether the market goes up (Long) or down (Short).
• Leverage: You don’t need to pay the full amount of the trade. At Pi42, you can use 1x to 75x leverage. "If you want to trade 1 crore worth of Bitcoin, you only need to put up 1 lakh as collateral at 100x (or 1.33 lakhs at 75x)," Shekhar explains.

Navigating the Regulatory Maze: FIU and PMLA

One of the biggest concerns for Indian investors is safety and legality. Shekhar explains that the Indian government has taken incremental but significant steps toward regulation.

"Two years ago, the government brought crypto exchanges under the PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act). This was the biggest step," he says. As an **FIU-IND (Financial Intelligence Unit)** registered entity, Pi42 follows strict KYC (Know Your Customer) norms and transaction monitoring to prevent illegal activities. This registration makes the platform a legitimate and safer alternative to foreign exchanges that operate outside Indian law.

Solving the Taxation Puzzle

A major pain point in spot trading is the 1% TDS and 30% tax on every trade without the ability to offset losses. Futures trading on an INR-based platform like Pi42 offers a more efficient structure for frequent traders, as it avoids the complexities of moving crypto in and out of private wallets, which often triggers "enhanced due diligence" from banks.

The Tech-Finance Conflict: Finance Guy vs. Tech Team

Building a high-frequency trading platform requires elite engineering. Shekhar, coming from a finance background, emphasizes the importance of **Product Clarity**. "Technology is important, but as an entrepreneur, you must be clear on what product you want to build. This motivates the engineers," he notes.

He admits to constant back-and-forth with his team of 60 engineers. "We fight in the meeting room about what is feasible, but we are friends outside. Speed is more important than perfection in a startup. I’d rather build a semi-perfect product in one month and iterate than wait six months for a perfect one."

The Future: Global Ambitions and RWA

Shekhar sees Pi42 as a contender for the top spot in India’s crypto exchange space. "The leadership position is still contested. We have a real chance to be the #1 or #2 player in the next 2-3 years," he asserts.

Beyond futures, the roadmap includes:

• Options Trading: Launching crypto options to provide more hedging tools.
• B2B White-Labeling: Helping other Indian and international exchanges launch their own futures platforms.
• Real World Assets (RWA): Tokenizing assets like land records and vehicles on the blockchain for transparency and privacy.

Key Takeaways: The Pi42 Blueprint

• Regulatory Compliance is a Feature: FIU-IND registration isn't just a hurdle; it’s a competitive advantage that builds user trust.
• Focus on the Application Layer: While building foundational models is tough, India excels at building the complex workflows and application layers where the most value is created.
• Leverage is a Tool, Not a Gamble: Use it wisely to manage capital efficiency, but always stay within your risk tolerance.
• Speed Wins: The "Build Fast, Fail Fast" iteration cycle is the only way to survive in the rapidly evolving crypto-fintech sector.

As Avinash Shekhar and the team at Pi42 continue to push the boundaries of what’s possible in Indian fintech, their mission is clear: to provide a safe, compliant, and highly efficient gateway for Indians to participate in the global crypto economy—right from their Indian bank accounts.

About the Guest

Avinash Shekhar is the Founder of Pi42. A Chartered Accountant with over 20 years of experience in finance, he spent several years as the CEO and CFO of ZebPay, one of India's pioneering crypto exchanges. He also founded TaxNodes, a platform for crypto tax compliance. He is a recognized leader in the Indian blockchain space, frequently consulting with government committees on policy-making and governance for the crypto industry.

Pi42 is India's first Crypto-to-INR Futures trading platform. Registered with the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU-IND), the platform enables Indian traders to participate in the perpetual futures market using local currency, offering high leverage and advanced risk management tools.