Cryptocurrency exchanges in India are having all sorts of problems, preventing them from operation. The latest example comes from Coindelta. The domestic exchange operator announced it is shutting down its services last weekend. Unsurprisingly, local banks are unwilling to work with crypto-related businesses, after the government advised them to do so.
Coindelta cannot find a cooperative banking partner and is forced to enter a 30-day withdrawal period. During that time customers will be able to cash out what's left in the exchange wallets. The situation in India is rather interesting indeed. The country is one of the largest cryptocurrency markets worldwide but the local authorities are not exactly what you'd call crypto-friendly. In fact, they are doing their best to stop fiat-crypto conversion and advise local residents to utilize bank services instead.
Coindelta published an explanatory blog post:
“It has been really difficult for us to operate Coindelta exchange for the last 6 months. The curb on the bank accounts by RBI has made us handicapped in order to provide seamless deposit and withdrawal services. There has not been any significant progress in the Supreme Court case which makes it difficult to predict when we will see the regulation.”
We should note however that this is not an isolated case. All around the world exchanges have a hard time finding banking providers willing to do business with them. Nevertheless, Asian marketplaces seem to be most affected by this phenomenon. Interestingly, this is the case with many small-scale exchanges across Europe as well while big players such as Bitpanda, Binance, and Coinbase seem to be safe.
Coindelta shut down its trading service on March 30 and is currently supporting its withdrawals service only. Users who fail to withdraw their funds during the 30-day withdrawal period would be able to claim refunds through a specialized support website.
Meanwhile, the blockchain/crypto industry in India is flourishing. For instance, Bitbns launched a crypto debit card fully supported by Bitbns' wallet and ecosystem.
Notably, the Indian government is still to come to a final stance regarding digital assets and their regulation. The Supreme Court of India is expected to take the matter in its hands and draft a regulatory framework, which would set clear rules and policies.
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