- OKEx users in India now have access to BTC and USDT trading pairs using Rupees (INR).
- 30,000 USDT up for grabs through a campaign to celebrate the launch.
- Unconfirmed reports of a looming crypto ban in India are propagated.
OKEx, a leading crypto exchange, has launched a peer to peer trading platform in India. The news was confirmed through a tweet by the exchange on August 5, which announced that crypto enthusiasts in the country could now use Indian Rupees (INR) to trade cryptocurrencies at zero fees.
According to the press release published on August 4, India’s frequently used payment methods such as UPI, IMPS, and NEFT are accepted on OKEx for better trading experience. For now, the platform is offering BTC and USDT trading pairs, with more coins to be added in the future. To celebrate the launch, OKEx is holding a campaign where the company is giving away 30,000 USDT to people who trade on the platform, refer friends or post about OKEx on their social media pages.
In a statement, Jay Hao, the chief executive of OKEx said,
‘’We always pay attention to the changes in the global crypto market and have great confidence in the Indian market. With more and more cryptocurrencies and projects with a high quality appearing in India, we regard India as one of the most important incremental markets of the crypto and blockchain industry.’’
India’s thriving digital currency market
The decision to enter the highly populated nation follows the results of a joint report published by OKEx and Coinpaprika. According to the report, there’s a huge demand for cross-border money remittance and a growing preference for the use of cryptocurrencies. OKEx estimates that 5 million people in the country with an approximate population of 1.3 billion, own digital currencies. Data from OKEx partner, CoinDCX, indicates that the trading volume of BTC/INR grew by 1031.4% on a month-to-month basis since March.
Looming crypto ban in India
The move by OKEx comes in the wake of fresh concerns of several local ministers looking to ban crypto trading in India. According to an anonymous government official, the country’s law ministry and ICT ministry was in discussions with the Reserve Bank of India to ban crypto in the country. The information comes in the wake of thriving cryptocurrency trading in India that has skyrocketed following the country’s historic Supreme Court ruling in favor of exchanges in March 2020. However, no official details on the matter are available.
