Indian Government Informally Threatens Coinbase to Stop Trading Bitcoin, Dogecoin, Says CEO
American cryptocurrency exchange platform Coinbase Global Inc. The COIN chief blamed India’s central bank for applying “unofficial pressure” weeks after it shut down trading service in the country.
What happened: CEO of crypto exchange Brian Armstrong On Tuesday, the company’s quarterly earnings call said, “So a few days after launch, we ended up disabling UPI due to some unofficial pressure. reserve Bank of IndiaWhich is like the Treasury equivalent there.”
SEE ALSO: India Not Done: Another 28% Tax Could Come on Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin
He further added that the Exchange Desk, which enables trading of cryptos like Bitcoin BTC/USD, Ethereum ETH/USD, dogecoin DOGE/USD — Now working with the central bank and will soon return to India with a new payment system.
“India is a unique market in the sense that Supreme court have ruled that they cannot ban crypto, but there are some elements in the government there, including the Reserve Bank of India, who are not as positive on it. And hence it has been called ‘shadow ban’. Basically, they’re applying soft pressure behind the scenes to try to disable some of these payments, which could be through UPI,” Armstrong said.
This comes after the US-based exchange kicked off its operations in the Indian market through a mega launch event in Bengaluru on April 7. The company said that it will allow users to deposit money using unified payment interface (UPI), which has become the most preferred payment medium in India in recent times. However, it did not go well with National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) – The central bank’s unit for all retail payment systems in India. Later that evening, NPCI issued a statement saying that it is ‘not aware of any crypto exchange using UPI;’ Thus, Coinbase was forced to withdraw its services in India.
Price Action: According to data from Benzinga Pro, coinbase Shares closed down 12.60% on Tuesday at $72.99.
Photo: Courtesy of Marco Werch on Flickr
