Indian banks resume servicing Bitcoin exchanges

Leading Indian banks have resumed dealings with cryptocurrency exchanges and traders. The Economic Times reports, citing sources.

According to them, State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Yes Bank are allowing clients to use accounts for digital asset transactions. A spokesperson for one of the banks said the institution is cautious when dealing with crypto exchanges and does not serve everyone.

Sumit Gupta, CEO of the trading platform CoinDCX, confirmed cooperation with several partners from the traditional financial sector. Bitbns CEO Gaurav Dahake noted that clients — watching the rise in the price of Bitcoin — played a role, as they began to demand banks open accounts suitable for cryptocurrency trading.

In 2018, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) prohibited RBI-regulated institutions from handling digital assets. In the regulator’s view, such a decision would protect firms from risks associated with money laundering and cryptocurrency trading.

In March 2020, the Supreme Court of the country struck down the RBI directive. However, large banks chose to wait for the regulator’s signal and delayed resuming services to Bitcoin exchanges.

There remains no legal clarity in India; therefore banks have resumed dealing with digital assets on their own risk.

Earlier media reports spoke of a ban on cryptocurrency trading in India. Experts doubted swift law passage and saw no cause for concern.

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