Mumbai: Earlier top lenders including State Bank of India, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Yes Bank have suspended some accounts of major bitcoin exchanges in India, suspecting dubious transactions, three people aware of the development said.
The uncertainty over regulating crypto-currencies seems to have left hundreds of Indian investors in the lurch. A number of retail investors who had bought bitcoins over the past few months are now stuck as some banks are not allowing them to deposit money earned from trading on bitcoin exchange platforms.
A number of retail investors who had purchased cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin have been left in a bind as banks are not allowing them to deposit money earned from their trading on exchange platforms, according to a report by BusinessLine. According to the report, investors said that they were unable to either trade on some of the bitcoin exchanges or withdraw the money they had invested into their bank accounts.
Vandana Tiwari, an investor from Varanasi, said she had been investing on a leading bitcoin exchange for several months through her bank account. But recently, when she tried to invest about ₹20,000 from her bank account, the amount did not reflect on her bitcoin account although the transaction status clearly mentioned that the amount had been credited via NEFT.
S Siddharth, a software engineer in Hyderabad, said his bitcoin investments, worth ₹40,000, are stuck as his bank was asking him to verify his account even though he had completed all KYC requirements.
Another customer from Delhi, who did not wish to be named, said that he is unable to withdraw his balance from his bitcoin account, which is asking him to verify his bank account. To verify the claims, this reporter also invested ₹2,000 to buy bitcoin. The invested amount could not be withdrawn into the bank account a few days later.
Blockchain and the newly formed industry body representing crypto-currency exchanges Cryptocurrency Committee of India told the newspaper, “The recent knee-jerk actions by a few banks in terms of closing bank accounts of some cryptocurrency exchanges have led to hardship to these citizens.”
It further said that it will soon be holding talks with the banks to make them understand more about the emerging sector and make them aware of harmful effects of their knee-jerk reactions.