ZEBPAY

DESCRIPTION OF EVENTS

"ZebPay was founded in 2014 by three guys from Ahmedabad who just wanted to give Indians a simple way to buy Bitcoin: Mahin Gupta, Saurabh Agrawal, and Sandeep Goenka."

"Available in 162 countries, ZebPay has served over 5 million+ users since our founding in 2014, processing $10 billion in transactions." "Zeb IT Service Ltd has played a pioneering role as a cryptocurrency exchange in India. Lakhs of Indians took their first step into the world of Bitcoin using the Zebpay app."

"Zebpay, reportedly hit 200,000 app downloads and an annual turnover of Rs 500 crore (around $68 million) in less than two years. At its peak in late 2017, the exchange was totaling between 300,000 and 400,000 users every month."

"We are one of the fastest-growing and most popular cryptocurrency exchanges, headquartered in Singapore. With a recently established presence in Australia, we continue our rapid expansion across continents, attracting both crypto-traders and crypto-focused investors from across the globe."

"RBI in a circular had directed all banks to stop functioning as intermediaries between cryptocurrency exchanges and Indian customers. Further, RBI had given three months of time frame to banks to settle their businesses with the cryptocurrency trading platforms and other related entities, and consumers dealing with cryptocurrencies. This means that the entities and the investors has to settle things by July 6th, 2018."

"Reserve Bank has repeatedly through its public notices on December 24, 2013, February 01, 2017 and December 05, 2017, cautioned users, holders and traders of virtual currencies, including Bitcoins, regarding various risks associated in dealing with such virtual currencies."

"In view of the associated risks, it has been decided that, with immediate effect, entities regulated by the Reserve Bank shall not deal in VCs or provide services for facilitating any person or entity in dealing with or settling VCs. Such services include maintaining accounts, registering, trading, settling, clearing, giving loans against virtual tokens, accepting them as collateral, opening accounts of exchanges dealing with them and transfer / receipt of money in accounts relating to purchase/ sale of VCs."

"Regulated entities which already provide such services shall exit the relationship within three months from the date of this circular."

"With regard to recent Reserve Bank of India circular, dated April 6th, on ‘Prohibition on dealing in Virtual Currencies”, Zebpay has announced that they may be withdrawing support for rupee withdrawal on Friday." "Following circular India’s cryptocurrency exchanges took the RBI and other government agencies to court, and the said legal battle has dragged on for months. India’s supreme court is yet to provide a verdict on the matter. For exchanges like Zebpay, this interim has evidently turned out to be too much to deal with."

"Zebpay said that their bank accounts will get disrupted as per the RBI directive, which means that rupee deposits and withdrawals will become impossible. This can lead to discontinuation of crypto trade based on rupees, or will lead to significant price movements. Thus, the investors should keep in mind if they choose to hold rupees in the Zebpay account."

“Please note you will not be able to withdraw rupees unless Zebpay has banking services that permit such withdrawal. Also in case of disruption of banking services, you hereby indemnify Zebpay and agree to hold Zebpay free and harmless at all times, against all claims, proceedings, expenses, cost, action in the event of any prejudice and/or loss caused to you by any act or ommission by Zebpay.”

"[L]ast month, the exchange announced the cessation of its activities in the country as a result of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)-mandated cryptocurrency ban. The ban which prohibits commercial banks from doing business with virtual currency exchange operators came into effect in July 2018."

"Yesterday, Zebpay, India’s leading Bitcoin exchange tweeted that the local ruppe withdrawals could come to a halt, which created a panic in the market and Bitcoin traded as low as Rs 2,90,000 (in Indian local currency) per Bitcoin in India."

"According to Zebpay, the RBI ban crippled its ability to do business in the country. Thus, it had no other recourse than to cease its operations in India." "Despite regulatory and banking problems along our journey, we continued to look for solutions as we did not want India to miss the bus of digital assets that power the public blockchain. However, the recent past has been extremely difficult. The curb on bank accounts has crippled our, and our customer’s, ability to transact business meaningfully. At this point, we are unable to find a reasonable way to conduct the cryptocurrency exchange business. As a result, we are stopping our exchange activities."

"At 4 p.m. today (28 September 2018), we will cancel all unexecuted crypto-to-crypto orders and credit your coins / tokens back to your Zebpay wallet. No new orders will be accepted until further notice. Please note that the Zebpay wallet will continue to work even after the exchange stops. You are free to deposit and withdraw coins / tokens into your wallet."

"In September 2018, India’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Zebpay shut down after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had imposed an apparent ban on virtual currencies. Zebpay, founded in 2014, was primarily responsible for introducing cryptocurrency trading to thousands of people in India."

"Since the exit, the firm has concentrated its operations in primarily European nations like Germany, France and Denmark, and other crypto-friendly countries like Malta and Australia." "It, however, has its exchange running in Australia, where cryptocurrencies are considered legal tenders and treated as property. Cryptocurrency exchanges, which must be registered with Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC), are considered legal in the country as well. In the last few months, Koinex delisted a number of currencies and asked its users to withdraw their coins accordingly."

"On 30th January 2020, its official tweet confirmed its return to India." "New Year, New ZebPay! Everything you want to know about the return of ZebPay in 2020."

"We’ve created one of the world’s most advanced, secure wallet systems to protect your crypto assets. As you know, ZebPay has never been hacked in its five-year history. To maintain that edge, we’ve created a new company in the ZebPay group, Genie Technologies Pte. Ltd., focused solely on security research. That’s how seriously we take it." "Previously, trading fees covered the costs of maintaining our wallet technology, as well as the expert personnel who guard your crypto holdings. Since 2018, we have paid those costs ourselves. After careful discussion, we have decided to ask for a small monthly wallet maintenance fee." "[P]lease take notice that from March 1st, 2020, we will charge a monthly fee of 0.0001 BTC per member."

"After suspending operations in late 2018, Zebpay will open shop in India once again, even though the central bank continues to maintain its stance." "The RBI’s prohibition continues to be effective, but Zebpay has made a decision to once again start serving Indian clients. In this regard, Zebpay has updated its company’s management team by roping a new CFO and CMO."

"A new decade saw the return of ZebPay to its home turf- India. With a new leadership team, no-fee trading on select pairs, an upgraded focus on security and innovation, and a passive income and borrowing program on the horizon—we’ve got a vision to become one of the most innovative blockchain service companies in the world."

"According to a recent report, the Indian digital currency exchange, ZebPay has decided to expand its collaboration with Chainalysis, a leading blockchain analysis platform. This will extend the exchange’s usage of Chainalysis blockchain services, such as Chainalysis KYT, as well as Chainalysis Reactor."

"There were several hearings in India’s Supreme Court regarding the RBI ban to remove the legal vagueness related to cryptocurrencies. The government of India is yet to come out with a firm stance on cryptos."

"In March 2020, the Supreme Court of India overruled the RBI circular of April 2018 and affirmed that crypto assets are legal in India. In May 2020, the RBI itself confirmed that there is no ban on banking services to crypto firms."

Zebpay was India's largest cryptocurrency exchange. Zebpay users found themselves unable to withdraw funds except to the blockchain after the Reserve Bank of India issued a circular banning all banks from interacting with cryptocurrency exchanges. This also resulted in Zebpay having to relocate their business and the price of bitcoin crashing in the country. The law was later overturned and Zebpay once again resumed service to Indian citizens. However, they remain headquartered outside the country.

Koinex Shuts Down; India’s Cryptocurrency Future Looks Bleak (Dec 27)
https://zebpay.com/ (Jan 1)
https://zebpay.com/supported-countries/ (Jan 1)
https://zebpay.com/about-us/ (Jan 1)
No Title (Jan 1)
https://unoversity.com/recent_trends/crypto/zebpay-indias-cryptocurrency-exchange-is-shutting-down/ (Jan 1)
Zebpay Stops Withdrawal, Crisis Widens for Cryptocurrency Trading In India (Jan 1)
https://rbi.org.in/Scripts/NotificationUser.aspx?Id=11243&Mode=0 (Jan 1)
Rahul Pagidipati, CEO of ZebPay on cryptocurrencies & Covid (Jan 1)
Crypto Exchange Zebpay Reopens in India Despite Existing Ban (Jan 1)
Will India ban bitcoin and cryptocurrencies? Zebpay tweets about withdrawal closure - Coinnounce (Jan 1)
@zebpay Twitter (Jan 1)
ZebPay Exchange Realunched in India - Win 5 Lakh Rupees (Jan 1)
Zebpay - Largest Indian Crypto Exchange Shuts Down (Jan 1)
Zebpay moves to Europe leaving behind India - Coinnounce (Jan 1)
Why India’s cryptocurrency boom is problematic (Jan 1)
https://www.cryptopolitan.com/cryptocurrency-exchange-zebpay-in-india/ (Jan 1)
@zebpay Twitter (Jan 1)
https://www.cryptopolitan.com/zebpay-in-india-regulations-chainalysis/ (Jan 1)
ZebPay Review: All You Need To Know About It (Jan 1)
What will happen to my Bitcoins in exchanges like Zebpay if Bitcoin is banned in India? - Quora (Jan 1)
Seductive crypto ads leave Indian investors in dilemma - Asian News from UK (Jan 1)
Crypto Exchange Zebpay Announces Relaunch in India Ahead of Supreme Court Decision on RBI Ban – Exchanges Bitcoin News (Jan 1)
https://zebpay.com/in/ (Jan 1)
Zebpay Moves to Malta | ItsBlockchain (Jan 1)
ZebPay Leaves India for Malta After Regulations Crippled Its Business | Club Laura (Jan 1)
ZebPay Leaves India for Malta After Regulations Crippled Its Business - The Bitcoin News (Jan 1)
Zebpay Leaves India for Malta Due to Constricting Regulation (Jan 1)
India: Crypto Ban Sees First Casualties as ZebPay Closes Doors | Bitcoinist.com (Jan 1)
ZebPay Leaves India for Malta After Regulations Crippled Its Business | Bitcoinist.com (Jan 1)
https://zebpay.com/blog/zebpay-ceo-bitcoin-to-rs-1cr-by-2030/ (Jan 1)
https://zebpay.com/blog/how-to-make-a-crypto-inr-trade/ (Jan 1)
https://zebpay.com/blog/india-2nd-highest-crypto-growth-july/ (Jan 1)
Indian Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Cryptocurrency — RBI Ban Lifted – Regulation Bitcoin News (Jan 1)
RBI Confirms No Ban on Cryptocurrency Exchanges, Businesses or Traders in India – Regulation Bitcoin News (Jan 1)

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