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COVID 19 lockdown has sent the Indian financial markets to a tailspin but the cryptocurrency markets have miraculously managed to remain immune to the adverse impact. In fact, the Indian crypto market has apparently found a silver lining in these adverse circumstances as the crypto trading volumes have witnessed sporadic increase during the lockdown period.
Several Indian crypto trading platforms have reported significant growth in their trading volumes since the nationwide lockdown was imposed on March 24.
Ashish Singhal, founder and CEO of cryptocurrency exchange CoinSwitch, has said that CoinSwitch has seen a considerable surge in the trading volumes catering to the Indian clients. He added that Supreme Court’s recent decision of lifting ban on cryptocurrency trading has surely helped great deal in improving the sentiments in the Indian crypto market.
Singhal further claimed that March was by far the best period for crypto trading, almost doubling the volumes as compared to last month.
Mumbai headquartered WazirX, which is now owned by Binance, has also claimed that its signups have increased by almost 25% during the ongoing COVID 19 crisis.
The U.K based Caasha, which also buys and sells cryptos in India, has likewise reported a meteoric increase of 800% in its trading volumes within 24 hours of the SC judgment. Moreover, Caasha claims that the recent Yes Bank crisis also helped the platform in increasing its sales, increasing Cashaa’s sales by 250-450 percent on daily basis, according to the data provided by the platform.
However, most experts unanimously claim that cryptocurrencies ability to defy the financial crisis will be fully ascertained only when the lockdown is lifted. This will be the first time that cryptocurrencies will be exposed to a global financial crisis, since virtual currencies were almost unknown entity during the 2008-09 financial crisis.
The Indian crypto story, much like its international counterparts, has seen monumental ups and downs. From regulatory clampdowns, government’s blank ban to the recent reprieve given by the SC judgment. But the latest apex court respite may very well end being an anti-climax, with unconfirmed media reports claiming that the RBI is planning to file a review petition challenging SC’s verdict of lifting the ban on cryptocurrency trading.
