Comments
Crypto exchange CoinSwitch Kuber has stopped accepting INR deposits through both bank transfer and UPI mode.
BusinessLine reported on Monday that CoinSwitch Kuber had enabled deposits through UPI; however, NPCI in a statement said it was not aware of any crypto exchange using UPI. Till Monday afternoon, CoinSwitch Kuber had enabled UPI access for users by partnering with Yes Bank and a payment gateway Paysharp. However, Paysharp has stopped working with CoinSwitch Kuber or any other crypto exchange.
“We are not providing our UPI solution to any crypto exchanges. We are focusing more on B2B with our flat-price model, an alternative to the percentage-based pricing model,” the company said in a statement to BusinessLine. Paysharp is a two-year-old fin-tech start-up headquartered in Chennai, which reached profitability in September 2020.
“In a May 2021 circular, the RBI said banks cannot deny services to KYC-compliant AML exchanges. Also, the Supreme Court has noted banking as a fundamental right. So, there is no legal basis for banks or NPCI to stop the use of UPI by crypto exchanges,” an industry source earlier told BusinessLine.
On April 7, American crypto exchange Coinbase also announced a similar UPI support for Indian users. However, later that day, NPCI said in a statement that it is not aware of any crypto exchanges using UPI. This led to Coinbase halting UPI support on its platform, leaving bank transfers as the only option for users to deposit and buy cryptocurrencies using Indian rupees. Coinbase’s venture arm, Coinbase Ventures, is an investor in CoinSwitch Kuber.
Trading volumes decline
This development comes at a time when trading volumes on crypto exchanges have dropped significantly. According to crypto research firm, Crebaco, WazirX has seen its volumes drop from 40,131,172 (April 6) to 13,247,118 (April 10), which is about 67 per cent drop in volumes. Similarly, CoinDCX and Zebpay have seen about 65 per cent and 72 per cent drop in trading volumes between April 6 and April 10.
The drop in volumes on crypto exchanges seems to be also triggered by the new crypto tax rules, which came into effect on April 1. Between April 1 and April 10, the trading volumes have seen an average drop of 56 per cent, as per the numbers recorded by Crebaco for CoinDCX, WazirX, Bitbns and Zebpay.
Further, payments app MobiKwiK has also stopped supporting deposits on crypto exchanges through its wallet. Binance-owned crypto exchange WazirX noted in a notification on its app: “Effective 1st April 2022, 8 PM IST, INR deposits via MobiKwiK will be temporarily disabled until further notice. Meanwhile, we are working to bring more INR deposit options and request you to use Netbanking and P2P, for INR deposits. Thanks for your support.”
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.