OKEx, a cryptocurrency spot and derivatives exchange based in Malta, is announcing the launch of a peer-to-peer trading platform in India. According to information shared exclusively with Finance Magnates, the platform will go live on August 5th.
The new platform will allow Indian users to buy Cryptocurrencies with Indian rupees (INR) without paying any transaction fees.
“We’re committed to connecting Indian traders to the international crypto-trading marketplace by providing a one-stop service for Indian traders, including spot and many kinds of derivatives,” OKEx chief executive, Jay Hao said in a statement.
“What’s more, OKEx will also further improve the ecological layout in India and enhance the trading experience of Indian users.”
OKEx CEO Jay Hao.
The launch of the platform also kicks off a campaign with a prize pool worth a total of 30,000 USDT. Users can earn parts of the prize pool by participating in daily quizzes, posting on social media, referring friends, and trading on the platform.
Upon its launch, the OKEx P2P platform will offer Bitcoin and USDT trading pairs for INR with more coins available soon. According to the press release, users of the platform can use India’s 'most widely used payment methods', such as UPI, IMPS, NEFT, and others to pay for their cryptocurrencies.
”We regard India as one of the most important incremental markets of the crypto and Blockchain industry.”
OKEx’s move into India represents the latest development amidst a growing amount of attention on Indian crypto users and the Indian cryptocurrency space.
According to data from OKEx, there are an estimated 5 million cryptocurrency holders in India’s population of roughly 1.3 billion people. In other words, there is a lot of potential for growth.
And growth certainly has been happening already. On March 4th, the Indian Supreme Court overturned a Reserve Bank of India ban that prohibited the nation’s banks from having working relationships with cryptocurrency companies.
Since then, data from CoinDCX, another Indian crypto exchange, has shown a 1031.4% month-on-month increase in BTC/INR trading volume. The figure maintained a growth rate of more than 100% in April.
However, the cryptocurrency industry in India still faces a number of obstacles in front of its growth: specifically, although the banking ban was lifted, there are still a number of banks that have refused to open accounts for cryptocurrency exchanges.
Additionally, traders are wary of connecting their bank accounts with crypto institutions because of the possibility of account closure.
Despite this, OKEx’ Jay Hao is optimistic: “We always pay attention to the changes in the global crypto market and have great confidence in the Indian market
“With more and more cryptocurrencies and projects with high quality appearing in India, we regard India as one of the most important incremental markets of the crypto and blockchain industry.”
