Indian cryptocurrency exchange Unocoin has temporarily disabled Indian Rupee deposits and withdrawals following the Reserve Bank of India's ban on providing banking services to firms or individuals dealing in cryptocurrencies. The RBI ban came into effect from July 5.
The exchange said it will resume the deposit and withdrawal services once an alternative method of funding is identified and deployed.
Meanwhile, crypto asset deposits and withdrawals will continue to be active on both Unocoin and its crypto-to-crypto exchange platform Unodax, which has introduced 17 crypto-to-crypto trading pairs with three base coins - Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH) and Ripple (XRP).
Users can also continue to buy and sell Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) on Unocoin using their existing rupee balance. Crypto-rupee and crypto-crypto trading pairs continue to be traded on Unodax.
Early this month, India's Supreme Court refused to grant stay on the RBI ban issued through a circular on April 6. The RBI had given a three-month time frame until July 5 for the banks to end all existing dealings in cryptocurrencies and stop providing accounts to entities dealing with such currencies.
Meanwhile, the final hearing date on a set of writ petitions challenging the ban, which was originally set for July 20, was deferred until September 11. At least five writ petitions were filed against the ban.
Many Indian cryptocurrency exchanges have been trying to obviate the difficulties associated with the RBI ban by either introducing a peer-to-peer facility or shifting base from India.
Indian crypto exchanges Zebpay and WazirX started offering crypto-to-crypto exchange facilities. Another crypto exchange Koinex has also recently announced a similar P2P platform called Koinex Loop. BitBns is said to be working on a similar P2P network.
Blockchain developers, services providers, and companies dealing in cryptocurrency trading in India are reportedly migrating to crypto-friendly destinations or are seriously considering options in the wake of increasingly hostile ecosystem in the country.
Although not banned by law, cryptocurrency trading is under tight scrutiny and restrictions in India. The Indian government also set up a committee which was supposed to propose a regulatory draft for virtual currencies in India by mid-July.
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