Ryze Recap 6/12: Bitcoin Blooming in India
The biggest Bitcoin news in 2 minutes or less. Presented by Ryze 🚀
Finally, it’s Friday. We’ve got one awesome story for you today with a focus on Bitcoin adoption.
Bitcoin Blooming in India
In March, the Indian Supreme Court lifted a ban previously imposed by India’s central bank that prohibited commercial Indian banks from providing services to companies involved with crypto-assets. Since then, we’ve seen several Indian Bitcoin exchanges launch, and incumbent exchanges start focusing on servicing India’s massive population of 1.3 Billion people.
What’s happening now:
In the last few weeks, a number of new Indian exchanges have been funded or launched, aimed mainly at consumers. These exchanges primarily offer fiat onramps (converting Indian Rupees to Bitcoin). Global exchanges Binance and OKEx have also started offering fiat onramps from INR to BTC as well, with Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao tweeting:
#IndiaWantsCrypto 🇮🇳Home to 1.3 billion people, India has a fast-growing crypto & blockchain industry. #Binance recognizes the huge demand for crypto, and has made it easier than ever to buy #Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies using Indian rupees $INR. #IndiaWantsCrypto 🇮🇳 https://t.co/QW0ST9SI1a
Binance @binance
Why it matters:
The Reserve Bank of India enacted its ban in April 2018, forcing many budding Bitcoin exchanges and startups to shut down. The Supreme Court’s repeal of the ban is fueling a new wave of Bitcoin-focused innovation for India.
Binance, the largest global Bitcoin exchange, is doubling down on India after acquiring peer-to-peer Indian exchange WaxirX in 2019. However, it will face fierce competition from scrappy, venture-backed local exchanges who may know how to better appeal to India’s population.
India has almost a fifth of the world’s population, and it’s a hotbed for technology innovation and adoption. Companies such as Reliance Jio (just raised $13B in 7 weeks) are bringing internet, smartphone, and eCommerce access to every nook and cranny of the country.
In light of this, financial technology innovation is on the rise with a slew of neobanks popping up looking to offer financial services to India’s 190 million unbanked. All you need to take advantage of Bitcoin is a smartphone and internet access— making India fertile grounds for Bitcoin adoption.
Post-publishing edit:
Last night, an article came out about a proposed blanket ban on crypto-assets in India. The ban in question has been a draft bill since the summer of 2019. It has not moved forward or gotten meaningful support from lawmakers.
The breaking news being reported by media outlets is simply just a “note” on the draft requesting it to be reviewed by India’s finance ministry. If anything, we’ll see more comprehensive and clear regulation from India, which is a good thing for its nascent Bitcoin ecosystem. Read further
That’s all for today. We’ll be back Monday with another Ryze Recap. Have a great weekend!
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