SBI Blocks Fund Transfers for Crypto Trades via UPI Platform

In India, cryptocurrency trading is getting tougher day by day. The crypto market has faced a lot of ups and downs in India like the RBI ban on cryptocurrency and now the country’s largest bank, State Bank of India NSE 1.14 % (SBI), has blocked the receipt of funds by crypto exchanges on its UPI platform. The payment processors of the bank are notified to disable SBI UPI for crypto merchants. With this, the inventors can no longer buy any cryptocurrency by transferring funds through UPI.

UPI enables all the bank account holders to transfer money through their smartphones in an easy process that does not require the holders to enter bank account information or net banking user ID and password every time they transfer money.

In the past six months, several banks have fastened the linking of fund transfers to crypto trades. Following SBI’s recent decision, one of the few payment avenues left for crypto exchanges has been shut off.

SBI spokesman said, “It is the policy of the bank not to comment upon matters relating to the subject matter”.

India’s largest crypto exchange, WazirX has already been affected by the directive of SBI. It is also said payment processors may disable payment transfers for other exchanges as well.

WazirX chief executive Nischal Shetty said that they are trying to discuss and put forward their points to SBI. He said, “We are looking for positive resolutions from SBI soon”.

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 impacted due to this move by SBI.