India’s KoinEx Loop Platform Offers INR Trading Despite Central Bank Ban

The cryptocurrency market situation in India is changing fairly quickly. The country’s Reserve Bank maintains a ban on cryptocurrency trading with the INR, but a new business model is emerging. KoinEx, one of the many platforms in the country, is now launching a LocalBitcoins competitor to continue exposing clients to Bitcoin and select altcoins.

KoinEx Loop Is a Game Changer

With so many cryptocurrency exchanges suffering from the Reserve Bank’s recently-upheld ban, an interesting situation has been created in India. Cryptocurrency exchanges have not been put out of business, unlike what some people might have expected. All companies remain intact, although most of them have been forced to shift their business models.

Virtually all existing Indian exchanges now only offer crypto-to-crypto trading. All references to fiat currency trading have been eliminated, which should not come as much of a surprise in this day and age. Crypto-to-crypto-trading is an unregulated business, or at least one that doesn’t require any official authorization as of right now.

Even so, some exchanges are looking well beyond the traditional model. For KoinEx, the mission is to explore new options to make cryptocurrency as accessible as possible to domestic users. Competing with LocalBitcoins is an interesting approach, mainly because it allows for INR trading without the involvement of middlemen.

With KoinEx Loop now operational, things are evolving in a rather peculiar direction. As of right now, the platform supports Bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP. The latter item will undoubtedly attract a lot of attention, mainly because there is a growing dislike for Ripple and its native asset all over the world. There are also concerns about the SEC potentially labeling this asset as a security.

Although it remains to be seen if KoinEx Loop will generate any significant trading volume, there is a very good reason why this problem exists today. The Reserve Bank of India prevents companies from using traditional banking services, which hinders both deposits and withdrawals. For consumers, no such ban has been put in place as of right now. This means that peer-to-peer trading, such as that provided by KoinEx Loop, is not affected by its decision.

Giving consumers more options to buy and sell cryptocurrency without additional friction can only be considered a good thing. KoinEx Loop is an interesting addition to the ecosystem, even though it remains to be seen if there is any real demand for this particular platform. Exploring new options is another sign that cryptocurrency is maturing and will not be going away anytime soon.