Kotak Mahindra Bank, known as a prominent Indian bank, and WazirX (a crypto exchange) partnered up, as reported by the Economic Times. An account has been opened by WazirX with Kotak bank that can be utilized for the receiving and payment of money by the investors, as per the ET report. The activation of the respective account will be done following the accomplishment of the formalities as well as paperwork, as mentioned by the report. Kotak is presently observing the expanding landscape of the Indian crypto industry and it is in conversations with other crypto exchanges such as ZebPay, as added by the report.
In 2018, the RBI (Reserve Bank of India) – the central bank of the country – prohibited entire of the regulated financial organizations from delivering services to the businesses of cryptocurrency. The respective ban was ordered by the country’s Supreme Court during 2020’s early period due to which minimized the banking drought regarding crypto businesses however both private and public banks have to a great extent avoided crypto notwithstanding the Supreme Court’s decree.
In May, it was clarified by RBI that the banks are permitted to deal with businesses of cryptocurrency until their conduct would comply with the regulatory obligations including anti-money laundering laws, nonetheless, it did a bit to drive towards the crypto pool.
A few banks such as the State Bank of India (the biggest public bank in the country) and the ICICI Bank (the biggest private bank in the country) have additionally implemented their restrictions to guarantee that the consumers thereof do not have any linkage with cryptocurrencies. The banking drought undergone by the crypto industry of India has been escalating throughout this year due to which the prominent banks have either left or momentarily avoided crypto.
In the recent month, ICICI, Axis, and HDFC banks issued emails to their consumers for cautioning them against the hazards posed by crypto investments. Such behavior from banks has subsequently left the exchanges or cryptocurrencies in a dilemma, of which a majority were attempting to provide their clients with payment options. WazirX, CoinDCX, and other such exchanges then came up with the idea of payment wallets such as MobiKwik to provide the investors with the facility of transfers to fiat currency for a short time.