WazirX CEO Shares View on India’s Upcoming Crypto Legislation

With India’s crypto law only a matter of time away, the CEO and Co-founder of WazirX Nischal Shetty, has shared his opinion on what the new legislation might look like and how it could affect the country’s crypto community.

Crypto Exchanges Looking to Operate in India can Register

According to a tweet shared by the CEO, he noted that there have been two unconfirmed bones of contention arising from the anticipated crypto legislation. The first grey area is the issue of whether “Self custodial wallets” will be a part of India’s Crypto Bill. 

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There have been unconfirmed reports that:

1. ‘Self custodial wallets’ may not be allowed as part of India’s Crypto Bill

2. Only Indian exchanges can be used

Some people are using this as an opportunity to bash the Indian crypto ecosystem

Read below thread to understand

— Nischal (WazirX) ⚡️ (@NischalShetty) December 3, 2021

In his view, he noted that the crypto industry wouldn’t recommend the expulsion of these kinds of wallets because “Self custodial wallets are just software” and “you can prohibit the use of software.” To further buttress his point, he continued that “Without self custodial wallets, (users) cannot interact with many of the decentralised services.”

Speaking on the second grey point which is “Only Indian exchanges can be used.” Shetty was of the view that foreign crypto exchanges looking to operate within the country need ton“register (a) company in India” as it wouldn’t be fair on local exchanges if they are subjected to local laws while competitors are exempted. In his words, “Do you expect regulations to be applied only on Indian exchanges while others stay out & still service Indian customers?”

WazirX Signs Partnership Deal With Kotak

In another development, the leading crypto exchange in India, WazirX has announced a new partnership with one of the leading financial institutions in the country, Kotak. Per details of the partnership, users of the crypto exchange would henceforth be able to send and receive money via the bank. 

Notably, this is the first kind of partnership that WazirX has been able to get since it closed its account with the ICICI in 2018 after the Reserve Bank of India banned cryptocurrencies. While the country’s central bank has since lifted this ban, banks in the country have remained reluctant to associate with crypto-related firms as the government’s stance towards crypto remains unclear.

Just recently, there have been rumors of India introducing a new bill that would regulate the crypto industry. However, it is hoped that this new partnership could break the ice between banks and crypto firms in the country.