Zebpay CEO Doesn’t Believe That India Would Put a Blanket Ban on Crypto Use

By Prashant Jha

Ajeet Khurana, the CEO of ZebPay has commented on the recent reports in media about the Indian government considering a blanket ban on crypto use. Khurana said that he does not believe in the reports that India might completely ban the use of crypto in the country.

Khurana characterized the fear among crypto enthusiast over the speculation of the complete ban and said,

“I must tell you that I have heard of this in general business media outlets however over the last year I have talked to all of the top stakeholders in the Ministry of Finance, the central bank, the securities regulator and despite them having a certain amount misgiving around crypto I have never heard them talk of banning it”

Last year, the Reserve Bank of India has issued a circular stating a banking ban on the use of crypto. The banking ban was always misinterpreted in many sections of media as a complete ban adding to the confusion of the public. Khurnan says that the regulators have never intended or declared a definite ban on crypto use.

The news of blanket ban originated from a report where the RBI initiated a sandbox program to test the use cases of blockchain but left any crypto from the programme. The sandbox programme came only weeks after the hearing on the regulations related to cryptocurrencies were postponed by the supreme court. The exclusion of crypto gave fuel to the rumors of the complete ban on Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.

The drafting committee responsible for finalizing the framework for crypto use in the country had earlier promised that they were on the verge of finalizing the draft. However, on the day of the hearing, the government’s counsel asked for a later date and the hearing got postponed again. Many crypto enthusiasts in India believes that with the LokSabha elections going on, the committee won’t budge or issue any formidable statement.

The banking ban on crypto forced many crypto exchanges and crypto service providers like ZebPay to shut their operations in the country, as it was nearly impossible to get any banking services for the customers.