Bybit Suspends Crypto Trading Services in India Amid Regulatory Changes

#cryptonews

Global cryptocurrency exchange Bybit has announced a temporary halt to its trading services in India, citing evolving regulatory developments.

The suspension will take effect on January 12 at 8:00 am UTC, affecting several services, including cryptocurrency trading, account openings, and order placements across its platform, according to a Friday press release.

Additionally, existing trading positions can still be managed under a “Close-Only” mode, allowing users to close positions but not modify or add to them. It is worth noting that Bybit launched digital rupee payments back in July, integrating the Indian central bank digital currency (CBDC) into its platform.

While trading operations are paused, Bybit reassured users that fund withdrawals remain unaffected.

Withdrawals Will Remain Unaffected

Bybit has also faced scrutiny in Malaysia. In late December 2024, Malaysia’s Securities Commission ordered the platform to cease operations for operating an unregistered crypto exchange.

This is not the first time Bybit has faced regulatory challenges.  In August 2024, the exchange ceased operations in France following regulatory pressures, with efforts currently underway to secure a license that would allow it to resume activities in the country.

Trading volumes shifted back to Indian exchanges after the ban on offshore entities, however. India also made it a priority to achieve global consensus on framing crypto policies as part of its G20 presidency in 2023.

The imposition of strict crypto taxes in 2022 and the crypto market downturn led Indian traders to switch to international exchanges, negatively impacting the local crypto industry.

India’s Stance on Crypto Remains Ambiguous

During the announcement of the fiscal year 2024-2025 budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman upheld the controversial crypto tax regulations Despite extensive lobbying from the cryptocurrency industry, which presented substantial evidence to advocate for a reduction in the tax-deducted-at-source (TDS) policy from 1% to 0.01%, the existing rules remain unchanged.

Nevertheless, India continues to grapple with rigid crypto tax rules.