It is not every time that the citizenry willfully goes against a government law, but that has been the case in India where crypto exchange volumes recorded a $75 million high, just one month after the country officially barred banks from serving cryptocurrency exchanges.
There are only two months before the Reserve Bank of India begins to place sanctions on Banks that have not yielded the warning to discontinue operations with crypto exchanges and traders but movement in the crypto market has continued as usual.
This recent surge seems to suggest that the country’s ban has only attracted new investors to the crypto exchanges and if the nation is to chase out cryptocurrencies successfully, more effort would be needed to stop ‘bullish’ traders residing in the country.
Shivam Tharkal, CEO of BuyUCoin, an Indian cryptocurrency exchange, said trading has gotten better over the last month.
New investors are coming to our exchanges while existing ones are regaining interest after the drop because they’re getting good value and are making money as the prices of cryptocurrencies move higher.
The price of bitcoin in India, for instance, has risen by over 50%, that is, from 350,000 rupees ($5200) in early April when the ban was announced to 661,000 rupees ($9900) at press time.
“There is a positive sentiment in the industry that the government will not ban trading in cryptocurrencies, and even if formal banking channels cannot be used, people can move to crypto-crypto trading platforms,” Mr. Tharkal added.
Clearly, regulating cryptocurrencies in India would be the preferred option for Indian investors and traders, but in the event of an outright ban, the global crypto community can be confident that Indians will come up with innovative ways to help cryptocurrencies gain a rightful place in the country.
Painting a picture of crypto life in India after the final two months window period expires, Tharkal said,
“If the government stands firm on their decision then we will have to eventually pivot our business model from crypto-fiat to crypto-crypto hence omitting the fiat part in totality.”
It is really a trying time for crypto trading in India, and no one can tell if it will still survive after the banking ban is fully implemented.
