Zebpay is among the biggest and most popular cryptocurrency exchanges when it comes to India. The exchange has been around since September 2014 and is one of the oldest cryptocurrency exchanges in India. Despite the Reserve Bank of India’s ban on banking services for those dealing in Bitcoins having been enforced in the nation, Zebpay is still hopeful that this ban will be reversed in the future.
For those who may not be aware, India’s central banking authority, the Reserve Bank of India issued a circular directing all regulated financial institutions to stop providing services to those businesses and individuals who are dealing in cryptocurrencies over three months. As the three-month deadline came into effect earlier this month, Indian crypto-businesses are facing a banking embargo. Complying with the RBI circular, Zebpay stopped all cash deposits and withdrawals from the 4th of July.
The case is currently being taken into consideration in the Supreme Court of India where multiple petitions had been filed by the community of cryptocurrency businessmen, traders and supporters in India. The Supreme Court refused to grant a temporary stay in the order - and the main hearing is scheduled for the 20th of July in India’s apex court in New Delhi.
However, despite the future looking rather uncertain, Zebpay CEO Ajeet Khurana continues to be in high spirits. Stating that “crypto assets market is good for India”, Khurana said in a statement to AMBCrypto that Zebpay intends to work with the Indian regulators to help them devise a regulatory framework which would help the government include cryptocurrencies in the Indian legal system. The CEO further added:
“To ensure that India gains from the crypto paradigm, we need to have market-integrity and consumer-protection. For that purpose, I would have liked it if RBI had actually insisted that all crypto-related transactions should go through banking channels.”
Khurana further pointed out that Indian banks not supporting crypto-companies would mean that this would lead to more peer-to-peer transactions - and even give a rise to cash-based cryptocurrency deals, which is bad for the economy. This is something that has been quite alarming - and Cryptoground had highlighted this issue in April, a week after the ban was announced.
Moreover, Khurana continued to highlight that Zebpay has already been in talks with several high-level government officials as well as with various ministries to try and incorporate cryptocurrencies into the legal framework of India. Throwing more light on it, Khurana commented that:
“On a regular basis, Zebpay is engaging with key people in government departments, regulators, and institutions. While it is a time-consuming process, we are convinced that the benefits of crypto will soon become evident, and we will encourage a vibrant and inclusive market for financial innovation.”
As the final hearing is all set to take place less than a week away, on the 20th of July, it would be interesting to see what the decision of Supreme Court of India is - and the kind of impact it would have on the cryptocurrency markets. Stay tuned with us for more updates on this story as it develops.