As the start of the crypto banking ban by the Reserve Bank of India approaches, cryptocurrency exchanges in the country are preparing to stop fiat deposits and withdrawals while boosting crypto-to-crypto trading. Zebpay plans to continue crypto-INR trading pairs even after the ban. Unocoin has launched a weighted basket order tool to simplify crypto investing.
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No Fiat Withdrawals But Trading to Continue
The date for India’s crypto banking ban imposed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is drawing near. All regulated banks and financial institutions must stop servicing cryptocurrency exchanges by July 5.
Zebpay, a leading cryptocurrency exchange in India, warned its customers this week that their “rupee withdrawals could stop,” citing RBI’s order. The exchange wrote:
If Zebpay bank accounts are disrupted, rupee deposits and withdrawals will become impossible…[However] Crypto deposits and withdrawals are continuing as usual. The RBI circular only talks to banks, and other regulated entities about shutting accounts. This doesn’t affect BTC and other cryptos.
Having launched a crypto-to-crypto trading service in April, Zebpay announced Thursday its intention “to continue offering crypto-to-crypto trading.”
The exchange also clarified, “Our present intention is to allow crypto-INR pairs to trade even after our bank accounts shut [down].” Nonetheless, it warned, “we are unable to fathom all the consequences of the bank account shutting [down] and hence cannot guarantee that we will continue the crypto-INR trade pairs forever.”
Soon after Zebpay’s announcement, the trading volumes of all cryptocurrencies on the exchange spiked while their prices dropped. The price of BTC fell sharply by about 20%, from ₹458,879 to ₹367,733, before leveling off around ₹405,000.
Some media outlets have suggested that Zebpay manipulated crypto prices with its
