India's central bank has responded to a representation about its crypto banking ban. The Supreme Court gave the central bank seven days to reply following a hearing last week of the petition by the Internet & Mobile Association of India against the ban.
RBI's Response
Indian Central Bank Responds About Crypto RestrictionsIndia's central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), has responded to a representation submitted by the Internet & Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), as directed by the country's Supreme Court.
Nischal Shetty, the CEO of crypto exchange Wazirx, told news.Bitcoin.com that the representation is "a detailed document explaining blockchain, cryptos and how they function," noting that it was "made with the belief that if the RBI gets a deep understanding of blockchain and crypto then they may go easy on the ban and think about regulations."
This representation was sent to the central bank on July 3 during the IAMAI petition hearing. The Court ordered the central bank to reply within seven days. On July 11, RBI finally sent its response to the association.
According to Sohail Merchant, the CEO of Indian crypto exchange Pocketbits, RBI's reply is a "2 page generic response." While stating that "as of now the response cannot be made public" but there is "not much to read though," he commented:
IAMAI received the response from RBI as directed by SC [Supreme Court], the response is generic with the same language as the public circulars. They have not even given deliberate thought to the points made by us, all the basis of their arguments is 'Investor Protection.'
Shetty reiterated, "RBI has responded to IAMAI…They aren't changing their stand."
Until Next Hearing on July 20
The central bank issued a circular on April 6 banning all financial institutions under its control from providing services to companies dealing in cryptocurrencies, including crypto exchanges.
RBI gave banks three months to sever their relationships with crypto businesses. As the ban went into effect on July 5, banks began closing accounts of crypto exchanges. One by one, the exchanges stopped supporting fiat deposits and withdrawals.
To bypass banking restrictions, a number of exchanges are launching peer-to-peer (P2P) trading services. Koinex and Coindelta are reportedly launching their P2P services on July 15. Wazirx, on the other hand, already launched its P2P service. The company wrote, "Wazirx P2P goes live today, 10th July at 3PM. With Wazirx P2P, a buyer and seller can buy and sell cryptos for INR directly with each other."
Meanwhile, industry participants and stakeholders are trying to get the RBI ban lifted by filing petitions with the Supreme Court, which will all be heard on July 20.