India’s apex court lifts the ban on cryptocurrency trading

In a historic judgment passed today, India’s Supreme Court has lifted the ban on crypto trading in India. In 2018, the country’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), banned cryptocurrencies. Today’s order from the apex court reverses that ruling, much to the joy of crypto traders.

The three-judge bench said RBI’s ban was ‘disproportionate.’ Top crypto services in India such as Zebpay and WazirX hailed the decision on Twitter.

The verdict is out! Today the Supreme Court of India has removed the RBI ban on #crypto. We at ZebPay want to say a huge thank you to the SC for allowing millions of Indians to have access to crypto. ?#CryptoInIndia #BlockchainTheWorld

— zebpay (@zebpay) March 4, 2020

Historic day for the entire Indian crypto ecosystem.

Crypto has won! #IndiaWantsCrypto https://t.co/6bgq1c7UC8

— WazirX (@WazirXIndia) March 4, 2020

Sumit Gupta, co-founder and CEO of CoinDCX, said today’s verdict is going to open up new investment opportunities for India: 

Needless to say, today is a historic day for not just the crypto community, but for the entire country. We have always believed in the ideals of collaboration and today goes a long way in proving that communication and dialogue with decision-makers may lead to constructive, sensible outcomes for our industry. The uplifting of the ban by the Supreme Court is going to open new opportunities for India in terms of investments, economic growth, financial inclusion, and market maturation.

As we noted in our story in 2018, RBI didn’t do enough research on the topic and proceeded with the ban. Earlier this year, the central bank justified the ban by saying it took the step to “uphold the integrity of the banking system.”

Last year, a government panel even considered a 10-year prison sentence for holding ‘non-sovereign’ cryptocurrencies.

Last July, NASSCOM (The National Association of Software and Services Companies), a trade association related to technology, said banning cryptocurrency is not a solution.  

After RBI’s ban, platforms such as Zebpay had to stop deposit and withdrawal in Indian Rupees. Now, hopefully, these exchanges will be able to resume their business.