India’s Largest Cryptocurrency Exchange, WazirX, has seen its average volume rise in the last 30 days by more than 470 percent.

Because of COVID-19, cryptocurrencies have seen a strong price movement that naturally has caused further trades

Crypto-currency startups in India have gained ground with the Supreme Court lifting the controversial ban on cryptocurrency trading in the country by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

In addition, several startups in the aftermath of the COVID-19 outbreak have also benefited from Market uncertainty.

“RBI lifting India’s ban on cryptocurrency trading has sparked new momentum in the market. The market uncertainty due to COVID-19 also allows more people to trade in the exchanges, “said Ashish Singhal, CoinSwitch’s chief executive.

CoinSwitch, backed by Sequoia Money, is a virtual currency exchange aggregator with around 400,000 active users a month present in more than 160 countries. “About 10 per cent of our user base is in India as of today but the number is expected to increase substantially with the new regulations and current environment,” Singhal said.

The Supreme Court quashed a ban on trading in virtual currencies such as bitcoin, imposed by the RBI on 4 March. As part of the ban, on 6 April 2018, the central bank issued a circular banning RBI-regulated entities from providing any service relating to virtual currencies, including those relating to the transferor receipt of money in virtual currencies accounts.

India’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, WazirX has seen its daily volume rise over the past 30 days by more than 470 per cent. WazirX, recently purchased by Binance, has over 300,000 registered users and has clocked cumulative volumes estimated at $286.3 million to date.

“The Indian market has a population of over 1 billion and is a sleeping giant. The news about lifting the ban on RBI would further improve the acceptance of crypto in India, “said WazirX founder and CEO, Nischal Shetty.

People continued to trade even during the ban with the aid of peer-to-peer (P2P) networks, but approval by the RBI is expected to serve as a catalyst to the growth momentum.

“Crypto exchanges like WazirX now have the INR deposit and withdrawal banking channels available. With banking networks now open, inputting crypto has made it easier for Indians. Indians had to use P2P because of the banking ban which was successful for WazirX but the banking channel would be even more successful because it is more convenient for users, “Shetty said.

Cryptocurrencies have seen a strong price spike due to COVID-19 that has inevitably caused further trades as market volatility is crucial to deciding trading strategy and investment decision. “But while crypto shows signs of stability in this financial chaos right now, we’re going to have to wait and watch the next few weeks to understand how cryptomarkets are really coping with their first-ever exposure to the global financial crisis,” Shetty says.

“Stablecoins (a form of cryptocurrency designed to sustain a stable market price) saw their combined market value nearly double in Q1 … If crisis conditions continue to escalate in emerging markets, we may see a more drastic rise in the use of stablecoins.”