The Singaporean cryptocurrency exchange Huobi, has announced, in principle, that they will be launching a P2P platform for their Indian users on which they will be able to trade all cryptocurrencies against the INR.

This so called ‘announcement’ was made after all users were sent a questionnaire to fill. The questionnaire was sent and to be filled by all Indian users alone and was followed by a mail stating that INR was now supported by Huobi.

The message read the following; “Global Merchants, After becoming a global merchant of Huobi OTC, you will be entitled to: post-fiat-to-token advertisements to gain more earnings during “Buy & Sell” processes; enjoy zero transaction fee and obtain 24/7 customer support.”

When news outlets approached the company, a source very close to the company, that wishes to remain anonymous is known to have said that it is legit and not a hoax. The spokesperson is quoted to have said, “For OTC supports INR currency. Yes. It’s legit.”

Rough Waters In India

Although no official announcement has been made by Huobi on or through any of its social media accounts nor website, as and when this comes, the exchange will be expanding into a country with a very delicate situation in regard to the cryptocurrency market.

Only a couple of months ago the Reserve Bank of India issued a circular ordering all the companies, banks and organisations registered with them to suspend all cryptocurrency related dealings and drop all accounts that have ties to cryptocurrencies within three months.

The decree is being tried in court right now and after repeatedly refusing to stay the deadline of the circular, the Supreme Court of India has scheduled the final hearing on the case to be on the 11th of September.

As the case against the RBI seems to get stronger by the passing day, they are starting to loosen up their stance a little bit when they admitted that they may have been a little hasty in calling for such a blatant blanket ban and said that they were ready to work with fellow financial bodies and draft up proper regulations.

However, the timing of this admission seems very curious to people as it is coincidentally happening just as the government’s crypto bench concludes talks with a first draft of regulation waiting to be passed through parliament.

For Huobi, however, this expansion into the Indian sub-continent is just a larger part of their exchange’s global outreach program through which they are looking to expand into many major countries over the next year.

With no official announcement from Huobi’s side the legitimacy of this ‘announcement’ hangs in the balance. But in the event that they do fulfill this promise, this is just another feather in Huobi’s cap with them opening up offices in London, Australia, Europe and America. We will keep a close eye on developments and await an official confirmation on matters, in the meantime.

Ramaa Mohan