The Reserve Bank of India issued an announcement on Monday (May 31) local time to clarify that cryptocurrency transactions are allowed in India. This news has injected a booster into the cryptocurrency market, which has recently been suppressed by global regulation. Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum have risen sharply at the beginning of this week.
In its latest announcement, the Central Bank of India told banks not to use the 2018 central bank announcement as a reason to hinder cryptocurrency transactions. The Central Bank of India’s circular at the time prohibited banks from facilitating such transactions, but was later rejected by the Supreme Court of India.
The Central Bank of India stated that “as of the date of the Supreme Court’s decision, the notice is no longer valid and therefore can no longer be cited as a basis.”
However, the Bank of India also pointed out that banks must continue to take other regular due diligence measures for these transactions.
Prior to the announcement by the Central Bank of India, local media reported that many financial companies, including Indian credit card issuing giant SBI Cards & Payment Services Ltd. and the country’s largest private bank HDFC Bank, have warned customers not to trade cryptocurrencies. The Indian authorities have repeatedly expressed concern that cryptocurrency assets may be used for criminal activities such as money laundering and financing of terrorism.
After the latest announcement of the Central Bank of India, Avinash Shekhar, the co-CEO of ZebPay, India’s oldest cryptocurrency exchange, said, “In India, investing in cryptocurrencies has always been 100% legal. The right of cryptocurrency companies to conduct transactions.” He added that this clarification will attract more Indian investors to buy virtual currencies.
Sumit Gupta, CEO and co-founder of the cryptocurrency exchange CoinDCX, pointed out that the Central Bank of India and the country’s banks’ widespread concerns about cryptocurrency money laundering should help stimulate regulation and make the industry safer and stronger.
After a series of heavy losses in the past few weeks, major cryptocurrencies have rebounded sharply at the beginning of this week. As of noon on Tuesday, Beijing time, the price of Bitcoin has recently risen above the US$37,000 mark, rising by more than 8% in the past 24 hours, and Ether has risen to the line of US$2,660, and it has risen by more than 15% in the past 24 hours.
Post time: Jun-01-2021