Crypto India: HDFC Withdraws its Early Warning Against Crypto Transactions

HDFC Bank in India today sent out an email to its customers whom it has warned against crypto transactions, to ignore its early warnings. The HDFC bank was among several others that have warned its customers to refrain from any crypto transactions citing a Supreme Court quashed circular from 2018. The bank in its latest email said,

We wish to update you that in the light of the advisory issued by RBI vide their Circular DOR. AML.REC 18 /14.01.001/2021-22 dated May 31, 2021, on “Customer Due Diligence for transactions in Virtual Currencies”, we request you to ignore our earlier communication dated May 28, 2021.

After many customers complained about receiving threatening emails from these banks, Reserve Bank of India, the Indian Central Bank issued a clarification suggesting that banks cannot deny customer requests for crypto-related transactions. RBI clarified that the bank-mentioned circulars prohibiting banks from offering their support to crypto-related services were overruled by the Supreme Court of India.

The Indian Supreme Court in March last year ruled that banks cannot deny their service to Indian crypto exchanges and also called on dedicated authorities to work towards a regulatory framework. However, the banks despite their early cooperation and service extension went back to avoiding offering their services again. Many claimed the continuous rumors about a possible blanket ban and lack of regulatory clarity make it difficult for them to carry out their service to virtual currency service providers.

Indian Crypto Exchange Breathe Sigh of Relief

The bank’s non-corporation with a Supreme Court order had caused great concern to the budding Indian crypto ecosystem as customers failed to deposit and withdraw funds during peak trading hours.

The recent clarification from RBI brought a sigh of relief to many crypto exchanges as it would help customers to make direct fiat deposits and withdrawals.