India’s crypto firms declare return of fiat support despite RBI ban

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After several months fighting with banking institutions in the country, more cryptocurrency exchanges in India are reporting that banks are now allowing them to set up accounts and deposit and withdrawal fiat. It’s a surprising move, given the ban placed on the banks by India’s Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The news was made even better by the revelation by the exchanges that users are also able to purchase crypto, as well as withdraw, using the exchanges’ peer-to-peer services.

RBI introduced the ban last July. Since then, crypto exchanges and companies have had their hands tied in trying to offer services, and several companies have been forced to close up shop. The case has been taken all the way to the country’s Supreme Court, which recently told the Indian crypto community to settle the issue directly with RBI.

At least three crypto exchanges in India have now said that they are receiving support for rupee withdrawals and deposits despite the ban. On September 12, Koinex said, “We are happy to announce the revival of INR in the crypto universe through a new peer-to-peer deposit and withdrawal mechanism for INR transactions…Just like the old times, users will be able to deposit and withdraw funds directly from their INR wallets.”

At the end of August, Coindelta also said that rupee support was back. It confirmed the support, saying, “We have resumed back the INR deposits and withdrawals on Coindelta. Not only this, your old favourite INR markets are back where you can trade with your INR.”

Giottus, the third exchange, took a slightly different approach to circumvent the ban. According to the exchange’s co-founder and chief operations officer, Arjun Vijay, the company can offer the service “by identifying specific traders who can process deposits and withdrawals quickly. This is still done through P2P, allowing the traders to still function normally.”

As much as some financial institutions may want to suppress the cryptocurrency evolution, it’s not going to happen. Several executives at the top of the financial food chain, as well as regulators have already recognized that crypto is here to stay. Trying to prevent further adoption is nothing more than an exercise in futility.