Major Indian financial institutions, including State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Yes Bank, are now allowing customers to use their accounts for crypto trading and offering various facilities to crypto exchanges, according to The Economic Times.
Accounts of major exchanges had been suspended after the Reserve Bank of India decreed that banks could no longer facilitate cryptocurrency-related transactions in April 2018. As Asia Times reported, the ban was struck down by the Supreme Court earlier this year.
“Banks earlier took a cautious approach even after the Supreme Court overruled the central bank’s crypto ban in March.” Gaurav Dahake, founder and CEO of Bangalore-based exchange Bitbns, told CoinDesk. “But with time and price momentum around bitcoin, a lot more clients started demanding them to open up an account specific to crypto trading and banks have started opening them up now.”
Given the size of the Indian market (1.35 billion people), the relaxation of restrictions is extremely bullish news for crypto investors.