In an earlier statement released by Coinbase, who, after a grand event on April 7 wherein they announced the selling of cryptocurrencies on their platforms via Universal Payments Interface (UPI), had to pause it after notice from NPCI, CoinSwitch is following the same lead.
CoinSwitch follows Coinbase’s lead
Cryptocurrency exchange CoinSwitch Kuber has also disabled all modes of payments for purchasing cryptocurrencies on its platforms, including bank transfers and UPI payments. This comes only two days after Coinbase had to do the same thing. On CoinSwitch’s app, the INR (Indian Rupee) deposits via UPI and other payment modes like bank transfers have been paused, therefore, leaving no way for investors to load the app’s wallet to buy cryptocurrency. This will significantly impact CoinSwitch’s trading volumes, which currently lauded their 14 million users. This comes at a time when the cryptocurrency market is bleeding bids owing to the 30% tax on crypto-based profits. In fact, top professionals and crypto investors have called it a sad time for users enthusiastic about investing in cryptocurrencies.
The declining interest in the Indian crypto market
Crypto developments have been a vigilant sight since the government imposed stringent rules and regulations around crypto investments. Since then, payment method options on exchanges have declined as Mobikwik, the only wallet for such transactions integrated across multiple crypto platforms, has withdrawn its services starting April 1. As reported by Moneycontrol, CoinSwitch is currently contemplating the situation, and the company is yet to respond to this development.
Even Coinbase, a US-based crypto platform that recently launched its services in India, received a notice from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), which oversees the UPI payments stating that it is not aware of any such crypto platform-led transactions. Soon after, Coinbase disabled its UPI options, leaving no mode for people to buy cryptocurrencies on its platform. In fact, its venture capital arm, which also invested in CoinSwitch and CoinDCX, the only two unicorn crypto exchanges in India, is currently revising the situation at hand.
Trading volumes have also plunged since April 1 due to the taxation protocols that have discouraged people from buying or selling cryptocurrencies in India. Moneycontrol reports that the volumes fell over by 50% in the previous week, as per the data shared by CREABACO. They also said that transaction volumes have fallen by 55%, while domain traffic has dropped by 40% on the country’s leading cryptocurrency exchanges.
