One of India’s largest banks, ICICI Bank, has warned customers against remitting funds if they are intended for the purchase of cryptocurrencies or have been obtained as a result of such activity in the past. Cointelegraph reports.<\/p>\n
The stance is reflected in the updated form<\/a> of the relevant application.<\/p>\n The above transfer is NOT intended for investments\/purchases of bitcoins\/cryptocurrencies\/virtual currencies (such as Ethereum, Ripple, Litecoin, Dash, Dogecoin [\u2026] or any others)<\/em>, according to the document.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n ICICI Bank justified the move on the basis of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, enacted in 1999 by the Parliament of IndiaForeign Exchange Management Act<\/a>.<\/p>\n The report noted that other banks had similarly acted after the central bank barred private individuals and companies from services related to digital currencies.<\/p>\n In March 2020, the Supreme Court overturned this directive of the monetary regulator. However, in May 2021, media reported that the Reserve Bank of India unofficially urged banks to terminate relations<\/a> with bitcoin exchanges. This led to difficulties for clients<\/a> of trading platforms.<\/p>\n As Bloomberg reports, the Indian government is considering regulating cryptocurrencies as an asset class.<\/p>\n According to Chainalysis, the value of Indian citizens’ cryptocurrency investments in 2020 rose from $200 million to $38.8 billion.<\/p>\n\n