India is currently under a nationwide lockdown due to the coronavirus outbreak. News.Bitcoin.com talked to executives of local cryptocurrency exchanges to find out the impact of the lockdown on cryptocurrency trading. They revealed that more people are actually trading cryptocurrencies on their platforms since the lockdown began.
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More People Trading Cryptos Since the Lockdown
The Indian crypto community has been rebuilding ever since the supreme court lifted the RBI ban. Then, in response to the covid-19 pandemic, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on March 25 a 21-day nationwide lockdown — the period which ends on April 14.
Nischal Shetty, CEO of local crypto exchange Wazirx, shared with news.Bitcoin.com about the impact of the lockdown on cryptocurrency trading on his platform. He said, “we’ve seen a spike in the number of people trading on Wazirx ever since the lockdown,” adding:
Signups have increased greatly since the banking restriction was lifted but a further 25% increase in signups since the lockdown.
Another Indian crypto exchange, Coindcx, is seeing a similar trend. CEO Sumit Gupta shared with news.Bitcoin.com that his exchange witnessed 10 times growth in the first week after the supreme court lifted the RBI ban. As for the effect of the nationwide lockdown, he said: “Post the lockdown situation, we are witnessing the continuation of signup growth and the rate of growth is consistent on a daily basis.” Gupta continued to share that “the number of daily trading volumes and user activity (crypto and INR) deposits on the Coindcx platform are also consistent with respect to before lockdown,” asserting:
This shows that crypto is still largely uncorrelated compared to traditional asset classes which are significantly affected due to these crises.
During the supreme court hearing against the banking restriction imposed by the central bank, it was reiterated that cryptocurrency is not illegal in India. Moreover, the Indian government is said to be discussing a regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies in India with the central bank instead of an outright ban.
Attracting New Crypto Investors
Since the supreme court ruled in favor of cryptocurrency against the central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), a growing number of Indians have become interested in cryptocurrency trading. Referring to the nationwide lockdown, Shetty opined:
Since people have more time on hand, they’re spending time researching online and coming across crypto-related articles. That leads them to finally on Wazirx in order to buy their first crypto.
Just before the nationwide lockdown announcement, Wazirx and global cryptocurrency exchange Binance launched a $50 million blockchain fund that aims to invest in startups and projects in the Indian crypto ecosystem. Binance acquired Wazirx in November last year and recently announced its acquisition of Coinmarketcap. Meanwhile, Coindcx scored funding from several major venture capitalists, including Bain Capital, Polychain Capital, and Bitmex owner HDR Global Trading.
What do you think of India’s increased crypto trade volume since the lockdown? Let us know in the comments section below.
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