There is a rumor floating around that India’s government could completely ban cryptocurrencies. The attempt, of course, would be futile and the mere suggestion shows a certain lack of understanding of how crypto works, but the chances of a ban even being attempted are virtually nil. This is the position of Ajeet Khurana, the CEO of the Zebpay crypto exchange.
Zebpay was forced out of India after the Royal Bank of India (RBI) decided to order banks not to deal with crypto companies last year. It hasn’t stopped operating and Khurana has still maintained his finger on the pulse of the industry in the country. He has also met with high-ranking individuals in the Ministry of Finance and RBI, as well as with securities regulators, and his takeaway has been the same across the board. He told media outlet Micky, “I must tell you that I have heard of this in general business media outlets however over the last year I have talked to all of the top stakeholders in the Ministry of Finance, the central bank, the securities regulator and despite them having a certain amount misgiving around crypto I have never heard them talk of banning it. It’s very interesting that the people who could ban it, have never said they will ban it.”
The RBI decision to ban banks from working with crypto companies proved to be beneficial to Zebpay. It now operates in 130 countries and has a headquarters in Singapore, as well as an office in Malta. It is now about to open a new headquarters in Melbourne, Australia.
Australia was a relatively easy choice for Khurana when deciding where to put the headquarters. He explains, “Australia was the one that fit the bill. I’m interested in country with a sizeable domestic market and there are probably 15 countries around the world that meet that criteria. The second one is that the state of regulation around crypto should have a high degree of clarity. It falls down to about four or five (countries), and third and finally it should be an easy country to do business in. And the moment you apply all these criteria the one that emerges right at the top of the list is Australia.”
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