- Crypto exchanges mushroom in India after central bank ban overturned
- Ex-CEO of Mt Gox says Tokyo court’s dismissal of appeal sets “dangerous” precedent
One bullish piece of news that just demonstrates just how high the sentiment on blockchain and crypto in India is the fact that a huge spurt of crypto exchanges is now being witnessed.
The second most populous country in the world recently achieves a significant victory for the blockchain industry when the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) crypto ban was repealed by the Supreme Court, paving the way for the growth of the local industry and the motivation for lawmakers to maintain and bolster the regulatory apparatus there.
Back in March, the repeal meant that all financial institutions were allowed to provide banking services to companies and individuals that conducted work related to virtual currencies, instantly recognizing legally the many crypto companies in India.
And now crypto exchanges are mushrooming.
Tradehorn is one of the new kids on the block, alond with derivatives platform Delta Exchange who received strategic funding from New York-based CoinFund, as well as BitPolo. Of course, multinationals are equally interested, with top global exchanges like Binance and OKEx now putting up fiat gateways to let Indians buy Bitcoin with rupees on local platforms.
Tradehorn CEO and founder Rahul Vinakiya said that the firm was totally focused on building a good experience of crypto trading for newcomers. It is about to launch a mobile app that would provide 24/7 services next month. He said:
“We are here to serve novice traders, who are absolutely new to this and spread awareness of crypto as an innovation. For us, how we measure [the] success of this platform depends on whether my uncle would be able to use this.”
There have been some reports, nevertheless, that some banks are still not willing to fling their doors open to crypto business, but Vinakiya shrugs this off, saying that the impetus is now on lawmakers to then provide clear guidelines to people about their tax liabilities with crypto. Last month, some Indian exchanges petitioned the central bank to clarify crypto’s position on Goods and Services Tax (GST). He said:
“This is a very important thing which needs to be cleared by the government so that companies and users feel free to start trading. A lot of people don’t know how to get started with crypto, as they are unfamiliar with how the tech implications would work.”
Speaking of legal courts overturning decisions, Tokyo courts have upheld the charges against Mark Karpeles, the former boss of the famous Mt Gox exchange that was the subject of the world’s most famous exchange hack. Karpeles calls this move “dangerous” because it puts the company’s decision at odds.
Tokyo District Court Judge Mariko Goto moved to strike down an appeal to Karpeles, who was found guilty of tampering with financial data, in his role in the hack. The ex-CEO was first convicted in March 2019 and was due to serve a jail sentence of two years and a half. Karpeles appealed that same month on condition he would serve more time if he committed another offence within four years.
The subject of the ruling said that he was now in legal consultation, but believes that this ruling sets a dangerous precedent because it had gone against the management of the company’s direction:
“The verdict, in this case, relies on the concept brought by the prosecution that the company has its own ‘will’ that can differ from management’s and/or shareholders’. I believe this can be dangerous as it means when a company fails management can be later prosecuted for taking actions that go against what the prosecution decided was the company’s will at a given time.”
Judge Goto justified the charge, saying that it was “an action that goes against terms of services which the company indicated as its own will”.
In February 2014, the company who once handled 70% of all global Bitcoin trades lost 850,000 BTC, the majority of which belonged to customers. Bankrupted in 2014, it was due to undergo a civil rehabilitation processes to pay back creditors beginning next month.
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