Zebpay, the crypto exchange platform, is returning to India more than a year after closing down local crypto exchange operations due to the banking ban imposed by RBI. Under a new leadership team, the exchange has also revealed many upcoming new services, including a crypto-to-crypto exchange. It will also support a way for users to earn positive income.

Zebpay Announces Relaunch in India

Zebpay, formerly one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in India, announces on Wednesday that it will be relaunching in its home country. The company wrote “Zebpay is back”, adding:

A new leadership team, crypto-crypto trading, no-fee trading on select pairs, an upgraded focus on security and innovation, and a passive income and borrowing program on the horizon.

The announcement comes directly from the exchange’s CEO Rahul Pagidipati. He states that

With a new CFO, CMO, and Chief Strategy Officer, we’ve got a new vision to become one of the most trusted, innovative blockchain service companies in the world.

The company closed down its services and operation in India back in September 2018, a few months after RBI’s banking ban went into effect. The curb on bank accounts has crippled our, and our customer’s, ability to transact business meaningfully. At this point, we are unable to final a reasonable way to conduct the cryptocurrency exchange business. As a result, we are stopping our exchange activities. Zebpay said at that time. Since leaving India, the company has set up operations overseas, such as in European countries and Australia.

Announcement of New Services

Noting that it has been working on several new services to launch in India, Zebpay detailed:

In the coming months, we will launch crypto-crypto trading, to allow users to trade pairs like ETH-BTC and stablecoins with instant buy/sell.

In addition, for a limited time, the platform will waive trading fees for one selected pair each month, for the entire month, starting with BTC-ETH.

Zebpay further reveals that it has created a new company in its group called Genie Technologies Pte. Ltd. to focus on security research. The company claims that “We’ve created one of the world’s most advanced, secure wallet systems to protect your crypto assets.” While trading fees used to cover the costs of maintaining its wallet security, the company has been paying these costs themselves since 2018. It has therefore decided that from March 1, each member will be charged a flat monthly fee of 0.0001 BTC.

Zebpay promises that “If the price of bitcoin goes up significantly, we’ll adjust the fee downwards.” Furthermore, this will allow Zebpay to cover the cost of wallet security until the company launch crypto-crypto trading later this year. Once Zebpay resumes crypto-crypto trading, users won’t be charged a wallet fee as long as they place even one trade per month.

SC to Decide on RBI Ban

The central bank issued a circular in April 2018 banning regulated financial institutions from providing services to crypto businesses. Banks subsequently closed the accounts of crypto exchanges, causing extensive damage to the crypto industry. Besides Zebpay, a few other exchanges have also closed down due to the baking restriction, such as Koinex and Coindelta. The remaining crypto exchanges cope with the ban by launching peer-to-peer trading platforms.

The Indian Supreme Court has been hearing the arguments against the ban for the past two weeks from Ahsim Sood, the counsel for the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and Nakul Dewan, the counsel representing a number of crypto exchanges. The hearing wrapped up on Tuesday. On the same day, the court issued an order stating that the judgment has been reversed and the counsels may file written submissions by Friday.

While the central bank has insisted on placing a banking restriction on the crypto industry, it has clarified that cryptocurrency is not banned in India. Furthermore, Indian Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi last week presented a prestigious award to a young entrepreneur who created a cryptocurrency app.

What do you think of Zebpay returning to India? Do you think Zebpay will be as popular as it was? Do let us know in the comment section.