After the Supreme Court made a U-turn on its decision for cryptocurrency things have begun to change ever since March. It is ever since then that Binance joined the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), which played a key role in overturning the ban, and noted explosive growth via WazirX, the Indian exchange Binance acquired in 2019.
A WazirX spokesperson was quoted as saying by CoinDesk that the exchange saw 150% more signups in many Indian cities from February to May 2020 which boosted local trading volumes by 66%.
“The Supreme Court’s positive verdict has surely helped in creating positivity around crypto in India,” the spokesperson said.
Prominent Indian economist Subhash Chandra Garg argued a “digital rupee will replace physical paper rupee as currency.” As the former executive director of the World Bank and former Indian finance secretary, Garg argued that bitcoin is a global currency and that India should create a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) that citizens can use with “digital wallets.”
Even beyond India, entrepreneurs like London-based Pavel Matveev of Wirex Ltd. are eager to expand in India.
“Last November we launched our product in eight countries across Southeast Asia, and we are hoping to launch in India this summer,” Matveev said in a phone interview. “The United Kingdom for example has a huge remittance flow from the U.K. to India. … [Indian demand for crypto] may be exhilarated by the COVID-19 situation.”
