Good news for India’s crypto scene: Binance acquires WazirX
Binance, one of the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchanges, has announced its buyout of the exchange WazirX, marking their entry into the Indian market. Binance is a leading cryptocurrency trading platform with more than 100 cryptocurrencies available and is considered to be the largest exchange in terms of volume.
In an interview with crypto guru Stefania Barbaglio for FinancialFox, WazirX CEO Nischal Shetty talked about the deal and how it will impact the crypto world in India. The crypto scene is one of the largest and most exciting areas in terms of potential for growth and mass adoption.
“This is not just good news for WazirX, but also great news for crypto ecosystem in India,” says Nischal about the recent announcement. The CEO believes that Binance is the ideal partner as the two companies share the same mission of widening cryptocurrency access to as many people as possible.
WazirX was the first exchange to create an auto-matching peer-to-peer engine to help traders convert Indian rupees into crypto and vice versa. According to a statement, this is a first-of-its-kind acquisition of an Indian crypto exchange by a global player in the industry.
The buyout statement says that the entry into the Indian market represents a step into allowing cryptocurrencies to be part of developing economies: “The next phase of mass adoption of cryptocurrencies will arise from developing nations around the world. India, with more than a billion people, is primed for massive crypto adoption and this acquisition by Binance gives us the opportunity to not only cater to India but every developing nation where fiat on-ramps have to be built.”
Nischal Shetty was a guest on our show nearly a year ago, when he talked about the difficult relationship between Indian regulators and pro-blockchain businesses. Nischal started the campaign #IndiaWantsCrypto to attract the attention of businesses, regulators and campaigners. Shetty believes that implementing positive regulations and allowing Indian people to integrate the digital currency economy will bring wealth and millions of jobs, creating a big boost for the national economy:
While India has one of the largest unbanked populations in the world, it also has one of the largest numbers of smartphones in the world, and cryptocurrencies act at the heart of this disparity. The country has more than half a billion internet subscribers, making it one of the most important for digital consumers, yet Indian authorities seem reluctant to allow the use of cryptocurrencies in the country.
A ban on cryptocurrencies issued by the Indian Central Bank, RBI, has caused many Indian-based exchanges to move operations to crypto-friendly countries such as Singapore, Hong Kong and Switzerland.
Nevertheless, the Indian government has acknowledged and welcomed the advantages of implementing blockchain technology into systems. It is reported that approximately half of the states in India have integrated blockchain projects into their administrations to optimise various public services.
Other blockchain enthusiasts seem positive about the news of Binance entering the Indian market. In an interview for Cointelegraph, Varun Sethi, the founder of Blockchain Lawyer, said: “The acquisition of WazirX by Binance should be construed as a positive step since this would help assembly the defragmented efforts to approach regulatory authorities for bringing in place regulatory framework. Also global experiences of Binance dealing with other government and their subsequent change in stance towards a pro crypto approach, may well be the trigger that India needs to head in the right direction for such regulations.”
Watch the full interview:
Subscribe to our channel to get notifications about further upcoming interviews and follow us on social media @cassiopeia_ltd.
