India’s Supreme Court on Wednesday quashed a Reserve Bank of India (RBI) order dated April 6, 2018, which prohibited banks from providing services to entities dealing with cryptocurrencies.
The high court's decision has brought cheer to the crypto community, as Indian traders will be able to directly deposit Indian rupee (INR) from bank accounts to crypto exchanges. As a result, it will be more convenient for users to cash in and cash out of their holdings.
Major exchanges are predicting a rise in trading volumes. "Volumes on Indian cryptocurrency exchanges to grow by 10 times in the near future," said Nischal Shetty, founder & CEO of Mumbai-based cryptocurrency exchange WazirX, which was recently acquired by Binance, the world's largest exchange by trading volume.
Meanwhile, CoinSwitch’s Ashish Singhal anticipates average daily volume rising as high as $50 million to $60 million – the level seen before the RBI ban – and may surpass that level.
Some observers say volume growth may still not be as strong as widely expected, as the regulatory uncertainty remains despite Supreme Court's decision. Moreover, the government is yet to announce regulations and legalities of operating cryptocurrency businesses in India.
The Indian government had submitted a draft crypto bill, “Banning of Cryptocurrency & Regulation of Official Digital Currencies” to the Supreme Court in August 2019, seeking to bar the use of cryptocurrency as legal tender or currency while prohibiting mining, buying, holding, selling, dealing in, issuance, disposal or use of cryptocurrency.
However, the government did not introduce the draft bill in the winter session of the parliament held between Nov. 18 and Dec. 13. | 