There is no prohibition that stops the banks from providing accounts to traders dealing with virtual currencies, replied the Reserve Bank of India to crypto currency exchange Unocoin last week.
The banking regulator clarified this in a Right to Information (RTI) query filed by Unocoin co-founder BV Harish.
RBI said on May 22 said that “as on date, no such prohibition exists,” clarifying the concerns raised by traders pertaining to banking channels and its status on restrictions for transactions in virtual currencies such as bitcoin.
The RTI was filed on April 25, questioning whether the RBI had restricted banks from providing accounts to crypto exchange companies or crypto traders.
In March, as per the Supreme Court of India guidelines, RBI in a circular in April 2018 directed all entities regulated by it not to deal in crypto currencies or provide services to facilitate any person or entity from dealing or settling in the same. The apex court termed it illegal.
“Bankers have been saying that they need new RBI circulars mentioning that there are no more restrictions for them to provide bank accounts for crypto businesses. Now, we have received a positive response from the RBI,” Harish said.
