Belfrics to resume crypto and blockchain operations in India with $15M investment
Global blockchain and crypto exchange startup Belfrics is looking at resuming the operations of its crypto currency exchange in India. The move comes three years after it put its crypto operations in India on hold after the RBI banned banks from supporting crypto platforms and transactions.
Global blockchain and crypto exchange firm today announced it is expanding its business operations in India with an investment of $15 million. It plans to invest $10 million for the Beflrics crypto exchange and the rest in its blockchain platform.
The startup is looking at resuming the operations of its crypto currency exchange along with its flagship blockchain platform ‘Belrium’, it said in a statement. In 2018, it had put its crypto operations in India on hold after the RBI had banned banks from supporting crypto platforms and transactions.
Praveen Kumar, Founder and CEO Belfrics Group said: “India is among the global leaders in terms of crypto and blockchain adoption. Looking at the market potential, we have decided to invest $10 million in our crypto exchange and $5 million in our blockchain vertical."
He added, "This investment would enable us to add five other products that are globally very popular, such as staking rewards, derivative products, lending and borrowing, custody solutions, and crypto payments (card and loyalty programmes).”
Besides its crypto exchange, Belfrics's blockchain solution enables real-time KYC and identity verification across nodes around the world.
The firm said it had also signed an MoU with the government of Andhra Pradesh which helped the state government run its day-to-day affairs in a systematic manner. Belfrics also recently launched ‘BelYo’ - which it claimed is India’s first ever blockchain platform to track COVID-19 cases, vaccination details, etc.
Belfrics is headquartered in Kuala Lumpur but has its development centre in Bengaluru.
Its investment in its Indian operations comes at a time when the local crypto and blockchain ecosystem awaits regulatory clarity from the government. The government is reportedly planning to define crypto and compartmentalise virtual currencies on the basis of their use cases.
Earlier, it was thought the inter-ministerial panel on cryptocurrency under the Chairmanship of Secretary (Economic Affairs) had recommended that all private cryptocurrencies, except any virtual currencies issued by the state, will be prohibited in India.
As such, it remains to be seen whether crypto will be legalised or not.
Edited by Teja Lele