RIYADH: Bitcoin, the leading cryptocurrency internationally, traded higher on Monday, rising by 0.95 percent to $41,900 at 1:28 p.m. Riyadh time. Ether, the second most traded cryptocurrency, was priced at $3,157, up by 2.10 percent, according to data from Coindesk. Other News: Global investment bank JPMorgan has published a report on the future outlook for crypto markets, including Ethereum’s upgrades, decentralized finance and non-fungible tokens. The bank sees the crypto markets as increasingly relevant to financial services, its analyst described. “The applications from crypto have only just begun. Web3.0, greater use of NFTs tokenization are in the line-of-sight for 2022,” Ken Worthington, financial analyst at JP Morgan, said. JPMorgan sees tokenization and fractionalization as holding particularly large promise as transactions speeds in crypto become more competitive with trad-fi networks. Defi underperformed in 2021, but still has strong potential in 2022 and beyond, according to the report. “The use cases for crypto markets will continue to grow and new projects and tokens with more and different use cases will surface,” Worthington added. The JPMorgan analysts also noted that with these projects attached to tokens and Coinbase being a leading exchange to buy and sell tokens. “We see Coinbase as a leading direct beneficiary of crypto market growth.” India The Indian Industry Association, Indiatech, has written to the country"s finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, regarding taxes on cryptocurrencies. The association represents major cryptocurrency exchanges in India, including Coinswitch Kuber, Wazirx and Coindcx. The association asked the finance minister for clarity regarding crypto taxation in Union Budget 2022-23. It also urged the government to amend existing tax laws to include crypto assets, Bitcoin.com reported. Some crypto exchanges have been accused of evading the Goods and Services Tax. “The budget should ideally offer coherent rules on direct taxation and the GST Council should detail the applicability of taxation, otherwise there will be confusion,” Rameesh Kailasam, CEO of Indiatech said. India’s Directorate General of Goods and Services Tax Intelligence is also scrutinizing several crypto companies for tax evasion. The Directorate General of Goods and Services Tax Intelligence recently raided major crypto exchanges and discovered massive GST evasion. The crackdown reportedly uncovered nearly $9.4 million in tax evasion. Crypto exchanges blamed confusion over tax laws as the reason for failing to pay taxes properly.