Big News: Coinbase To Shutdown Trading Services In India By this Month-End
By Nilesh Hembade 11-Sept-2023 4:58 AM GMT
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Introduction:
Coinbase, one of the world’s leading crypto exchanges, has announced to shutdown its trading services in India by the end of this month. This decision comes as a response to a series of regulatory challenges faced by the platform in the country.
Disabling Access and Urgent Withdrawals
Coinbase has already taken preliminary steps to halt trading activities for its Indian users. Users attempting to access the platform are being redirected to download the Coinbase Wallet instead.
As the situation stands, Coinbase is set to discontinue its services in India as of September 25, 2023. The exchange has also urged its Indian clientele to promptly withdraw any remaining funds from their accounts.
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Coinbase's Ambitious Entry into India
The decision to exit the Indian market marks a significant turn of events for Coinbase, given its ambitious entry into the country just last year. In 2022, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong personally traveled to India to launch the exchange, emphasizing its commitment to the Indian market.
The platform hadalso announced its support for India’s popular payments platform, Unified Payments Interface (UPI), at that time.
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Challenges with UPI Integration and Regulatory Pressure
However, challenges began to mount as the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), responsible for overseeing UPI, declined to acknowledge Coinbase’s India launch. T
his forced Coinbase to suspend its UPI integration, despite its initial aspirations. Coinbase had expressed its willingness to collaborate with NPCI and other relevant authorities but found itself facing insurmountable obstacles.
The troubles deepened in May of the preceding year when Brian Armstrong disclosed that Coinbase was compelled to halt its trading services in India due to what he termed “informal pressure” from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the nation’s central bank.
Armstrong made it clear that cryptocurrency trading was not illegal in India and that the country had recently introduced taxation on it.
However, he alluded to the existence of individuals within the government, including the RBI, who harbored unfavorable views toward cryptocurrencies. This led to reports of a “shadow ban,” wherein subtle pressure was applied behind the scenes, potentially affecting certain cryptocurrency-related payments, particularly those routed through the UPI system.
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Global Regulatory Concerns: G20 Meeting Impact
The recent G20 meeting held in India over the weekend added further weight to the regulatory concerns surrounding cryptocurrencies.
During this gathering, the participating countries issued a Leaders’ Declaration, unanimously endorsing the high-level recommendations of the Financial Stability Board (FSB) regarding the regulation and oversight of cryptocurrency activities.
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