Cryptocurrency startups absorb blow of RBI ban, pivot to P2P trading

WazirX is one of the many companies that have turned to Peer-to-Peer transfers, allowing users to seamlessly buy and sell crypto for rupees directly with each other
The Supreme Court's verdict, upholding the Reserve Bank of India's ban on banks dealing with cryptocurrencies has rattled the industry and slowed down business. But players in the sector are refusing to let the industry die, with most of them now moving to a P2P model to soften the blow.

The verdict follows a public interest litigation asking the court to review RBI's circular dated April 6, allowing banks three months to exit operations dealing with virtual currencies.

"Removing the ‘bank account to digital exchange’ channel clearly will not help the industry and recently reduced trading levels demonstrate this. However, the market is adjusting quickly to this limitation and has already evolved to boost the 'crypto to crypto'. Bank accounts are not required in either of these models in order to continue trading activity," said Akash Aggarwal, Founder and CEO of Alluma.

Till last year, India was an attractive market for cryptocurrencies. Several players entered India because it was a lucrative market given the huge demand. But the government's stand in the Budget, and RBI's circular, have been big blows to the industry, according to Vajahaath Hussain, CEO of the only Cryptocurrency investment bank – Almora.