India’s largest bank State Bank of India (SBI) has reportedly stopped UPI services for the crypto platform. It has directed crypto exchanges to disable its UPI through payment processors, this move comes without any prompts from the central banker RBI.
The direct hit came to WazirX, the country's largest crypto exchange platform, as it received numerous user complaints as they were not able to deposit funds.
The fear the traders have is that other banks may follow suit. Significantly, the domestic umbrella body National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), which developed UPI, has refused to block fund movements for cryptocurrency trades.
ET reported that WazirX chief executive Nischal Shetty said they were in talks with SBI. “We’re trying to discuss and put forward our points to SBI. WazirX follows KYC (know your customer) norms and AML (anti-money laundering) policies. Being the largest crypto exchange in India, millions of Indians are currently affected due to this move by SBI.”